Of Beliefs and Moon Magic
by Kid Darkness
Summary: Captain Lavi and his pirate crew ruled the oceans for years, yielding to none and boldly boasting their knowledge of the sea to their advantage. Yet, humans knew only of the surface world. There is something enchanting and dark underneath the beautiful ocean nobody knows. Of love, fear and traitors, it is up to Lavi to discover the truth and ask himself: Who is he going to trust?
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: **I for one, do not own D. Gray Man and all its wonderful characters! Now, let's begin this journey, shall we?

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In the land of the sea and oceans where the waves roamed free with vigor and power, humans have long ago discovered the many ways to ravel through the large water realm without fear of drowning. _Sailors, navy and pirates_. Each living their own paths with totally different responsibilities and burdens.

_Sailors_. The adventurous crew worked their blood, sweat and tears to bring people their goods or hard-earned food across oceans.

_Navy_. To work in the navy was as equivalent to the noblest profession you could ever think of. They are the police of the sea, the law-makers and the protectors of the innocent.

_Pirates. _The scumbag of the ocean and dishonorable to the fullest. They pillaged, killed, and stole from careless and unlucky ships that dared stand in their way.

But all 3 of those hazardous sea occupations have one thing in common: Belief. Never bring women aboard any ship, for it would mean bad luck and unfortunate accidents because the ship would be 'jealous' of her. Turtle bones are kept in pockets for good luck and fortune as compared to sharks that brought malicious signs that someone was about to die.

The most ominous and serious belief of all was to never, _ever_, gaze at the moon for too long a time. You may look at the stars to navigate around the ocean, but it was absolutely forbidden to stare at the moon. Why? Because the moon will capture your soul and you would be forever lost to the dark magic within.

Stop with that exasperated look, yer lil scoundrels! T'is truth I speaketh of!

Come, come, and let me tell you a tale where those who fight for justice were not what they seem, and those who were scorned by all were renowned as heroes by creatures who existed only in books and created by moon magic. Art thou intrigued yet? Well-

Come on then! Come and hear the legend of the cold-hearted pirate who fell in love with a merman.

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Greetings! I am Kid Darkness, here to say I've returned with yet another story! Unlike my other stories, Silver Neko 08 was the one who introduced me to this plot bunny, so credits shall go to her (and her friend, White Neko 07!) Alas yet again, I find myself uncertain as to whether I should continue this story, so if you'll give me a heads-up, then I'll know =D Hope you enjoy this prologue and I do hope you'll stick around for more!


	2. Chapter 2

Captain Lavi of the Black Order ship sighed deeply, relishing on the fresh ocean air and the breezy wind that licked his face lovingly. The sea level played around his ankles, the beach sand digging deeply into his toes. Lavi stretched whilst his company began the ship's repairs. They had just pillaged yet another ship, their treasures taken and food stolen. But Lavi was not one without mercy, and so he left the poor sailors alone and went off to an undiscovered island to recuperate. Here, Lavi left the ship and decided to relax against the gentle waves on the clean beach.

Suddenly, he heard something. Something similar to... _Splashing?_ Curiosity piqued at Lavi as he wondered around the beach, looking for the source of said sound. Soon, it grew louder, more frantic as if something was moving ferociously.

"Help! Help!" A whining voice cried out, making Lavi hurry along. The voice sounded young, like a child looking for his mother. It also sounded melodic, as if the boy had stolen the beautiful music that most music boxes had.

There! Someone was struggling against the small current, trapped inside a fisherman's rope net. Lavi could see the small body twisting and turning, but the poor boy's struggles were only in vain as the net kept ahold of its victim. Finally, Lavi came upon the stuck boy.

"Hold on! I'll get you out!" Lavi tried to calm the panicking boy, the small fellow flailing his thin arms. Then, Lavi found his breath caught in his throat. Looking up towards him, were the most precious silver eyes Lavi had ever seen in his life. They glittered with the sun's rays, making those eyes glow like pretty pearls. The boy's silvery white hair looked like it was made of the softest silk, the smoothness contrary to Lavi's own fiery and wild hair. Lavi felt a sudden urge to bury and snuggle his hands -and maybe his face- into that small scalp. But what completed the lovely image was his face; the young, fair boy had an intriguing red scar running from his left side of his face. The picture of innocence and perfection in the flesh of this angel.

Lavi snapped out of his stupor and took out his small knife, and those pretty eyes widen in shock and fright. The boy began his escape anew, but Lavi quickly put a stop to it by placing his hand as reassurance to the boy's shoulder, "I'm not gonna hurt you, pal. I'm just going to cut the net. See?"

Lavi started to cut the net slowly, making sure his other hand was still resting at the boy's shoulders. He felt coldness, like the boy was made out of ice instead of human warmth. Other than the strange coldness, Lavi felt the boy trying his best not to shake in fear. It made Lavi smile amusingly. Before he could cut the last section however, a giant wave came crashing down at them.

Lavi gasped as his hands clutched against nothing but water, his legs finding no support underneath as he was taken far away from the shore. He held onto his knife tightly, searching frantically for the still trapped boy, "HEY! ARE YOU THERE?! HANG ON, I'M COMING!" Lavi shouted, looking quickly from one corner to another. Alas, all he saw was more waves and the blueness of the ocean.

Suddenly, something slithered between his legs. Lavi instinctually moved his knife around, turning to face his opponent. But there was none behind him.

The slithering came back again, this time pushing his lower half roughly as if testing its boundaries. Lavi's mind chilled when he realized that he was dealing with a large sea serpent! Thinking fast, he slashed below his legs to avoid the wild animal. But his weapon felt no resistance.

The large sea serpent came the third time, this time its huge body all but heaved Lavi forward, pushing and forcing the struggling human to move with the waves. Lavi saw the dark shadow, and with innate accuracy, struck the serpent with all his might.

The effect was instantaneous. The sea serpent jerked away as Lavi's knife sliced its body. Lavi heard a loud cry of pain and agony, the sound definitely not coming from him. But he didn't have time to ponder about the sound as the sea serpent gave one last act of defiance and pushed Lavi's entire body away from it.

The waves practically drowned Lavi, his hand still holding onto his knife. Just as he was about to drink sea water and toss his lunch away, a pair of strong arms pulled him away from the sea's embrace.

"What in Poseidon's name are you thinking, Lavi?!" The angry and exasperated voice cried out, shaking Lavi who was too busy coughing his lungs out. First Mate Komui patted his back, shaking his head as he chastised his captain, "who in his right mind would swim in a time like this? Luckily you were close to the shore!"

Lavi rubbed his aching eyes, the salty water burning his sight. Strange, he had thought that the first wave took him away from shore.. True to his word, Lavi found himself on solid ground once again. _Was it all just an illusion made by the sea? _Then he recalled what happened.

"W-Wait! The boy! Where's the boy?" Lavi got back up onto his feet, looking around yet found nobody but his faithful First Mate.

Komui stared at him incredulously, "what boy? The only thing I saw was you floundering around the shallows. Luckily the big waves pushed you in, you know I hate going out there with them sea monsters!"

Komui turned around and started his way back to the now repaired ship. But Lavi stayed for a while, looking at the ocean like it played a nasty trick on him... Maybe it did and it was all just a dream. Maybe Lavi didn't meet the boy and maybe that sea serpent didn't just coincidentally push him towards the shore instead of eating him up. Maybe he-

The knife he held onto dropped something solid from its tip. The tip dripped with fresh blood. Lavi's heart gripped tightly as he bent down to pick up the strange object.

It was a scale. But not one of those scales of a sea serpent or fish or shark or anything that Lavi has ever seen. It was blue, but as he held up against the sun, the scale turned silver. Then blue again, with a tinge of white. The scale glittered slightly, as if it held some sort of magical value over it.

Now, Lavi began to wonder again; _was it all just a dream?_

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Aaaaand here is where I shall stop for the week! Muahahahahahahha I'd like to thank you for reading this small update (I did this at my part-time work ssh!) As you all know me, my updates are will be quite frequent unless I inform you otherwise, so here is my excuse: I'm going to my Scout Camp until next Monday-ish. Therefore, no laptop=no wifi=no update HAHAHA *sobs in corner* Again, thank you for motivating my lazy butt to work. I do hope to hear from you guys soon! Have a wonderful day! (while I suffer with no wifi)


	3. Chapter 3

"Let's slow it down here for the night," Lavi mused, watching the darkened horizon from the bow of his beloved ship. Komui nodded his agreement when he saw thunderclouds that promised a heavy duty shower of rain and lightning.

The wise First Mate patted his Captain's tensed shoulders, "Don't worry, Lavi. It doesn't look like it's coming this way.. But just in case, Timothy!-" Komui shouted to the young lookout that was currently resting in the crow's nest, "-Keep an eye out for those storm clouds, boy! We've got a long way to go!"

Lavi walked around the wooden deck, his hands clasped behind his back as the small knife was safely tucked onto his belt. The wonderful view of his ever busy ship didn't deter him from his wondering thoughts. He was still in thought about the mysterious scale, the small item kept neatly in a handkerchief inside his cabin. The scale fascinated him, entranced his eyes with its changing colors. The only thing he found out about said scale was that it changes colors according to the light intensity. The brighter the atmosphere was, the lighter the color it would be. Therefore, only in darkness and the moonlight would Lavi be able to truly appreciate the wonders of the scale. It was intriguing, to say the least. He still pondered about what kind of sea creature would have this kind of magical scale on its body.

"OH NO!"

Lavi heard a woman's voice echoing through the deck. It was Lenalee, the ship's musician. With hair as dark as squid's ink, Lenalee was a force to be reckoned with. Now, Lavi was never one to bow down to superstitious belief about having no women aboard. Especially when those women could cut someone's throat from behind with only a kitchen knife and out-talk/curse a sailor at the same time without blinking an eye. Yes, women like Lenalee should _never _be underestimated; Lavi learnt it the hard way when he had declared that women were the weaker sex while Lenalee was within earshot. He still had the scar on his hip to prove it.

"What's up, Lenalee? Rope's rotten again?" Lavi greeted the woman, who was looking over the edge of the ship.

The woman with an awfully sharp scimitar tied around her waist was still looking around fervently for something as she answered her Captain's question, "I dropped my necklace somewhere down there! Now I'm sure it's gone!"

Lavi joined his crew mate in her search for the missing necklace, his one keen eye stretching across the wide, blue ocean. Yet, he couldn't find any floating or shiny jewelry. Anything that fell from the ship was as good as dead. Unfortunately, Lenalee seems to come up with the same sad conclusion and sighed while shaking her head, "It's alright, Lavi. I'll just take another one from the next loot!"

The beautiful musician smiled and thanked her Captain for helping her, but Lavi could still detect the sadness in her voice. After all, who wouldn't feel miserable when your priceless jewelry just up and disappear into the deep ocean?

Evening came and Lavi found himself at the port side of Black Order. Everyone was still eating their well-deserved dinner, the strumming of a guitar and the humming of voices can still be heard even from the stern of the massive battleship. Lavi's heavy duty boots thumped along the way, his path darkened only by the shadows of the sweet evening. Soon, he came across the person he wanted to meet.

"Krory, my man! Set for me a boat with the usual jute rope and a bottle of water. Oh, and some of the big rocks, please," Lavi smiled cheerfully at his surprised Boatswain.

The man in charge of manning and repairing of the small boats threw a worried glance at his too-happy Captain, "are you alright, Lavi? You know the dangers of going off boat when the sun sleeps,"

"It's alright, Krory!" Lavi began tugging on one of the ropes that held a boat that hung from the side. Almost hesitatingly, Krory began to help his Captain before something –dangerous, if he knew his Captain well- happened. Soon, Lavi was in a fully functional boat with its strong oars strapped tightly to its edges.

Krory untied the rope and began dropping the boat down slowly, his hidden muscles coming into play to prevent the boat from falling straight into the ocean, "You best be back quickly. The waves are getting restless with the coming storm, Lavi,"

Lavi mock-salute his Boatswain, grabbing the oars and started pushing the boat with all his strength. Krory was right; the waves were a bit restless, but nothing that Lavi couldn't handle. After all, he was the _Captain_ of the infamous pirate ship, Black Order.

Lavi stopped his rowing just a small distance away from the mother ship, mentally estimating the distance as to where the lost necklace might have been dropped. He tied one part of the large jute rope to his waist tightly; the other end was connected to the boat's bow even tighter. After he took out his boots and scanned the surroundings for any aquatic danger, Lavi carried the large rock and dived down to the bottom of the sea.

The large rock helped in his descent, efficiently extending his time underwater. His bottle-green eye was used to the salty water, and so he started his search for the jewelry. Lavi looked and searched everywhere, tugging on his rope occasionally to ensure that he still had a way up. Every once in a while, he came up to breathe again before descending with another large rock in his arms. This routine was repeated a few times till there were no more rocks on the boat and Lavi diligently scoped the sands one last time.

That was when it happened. Lavi felt a giant pull on his rope line, as if something was forcing him to move along. His breath was stolen away as the rope coiled tightly around his waist. Just as quickly the force came, it disappeared without warning. Lavi's heart clenched when he pulled on the rope and felt absolutely no resistance. Swiftly, he swam upwards and broke surface to face the night air.

Lavi was shock to see the stars were already out for the night, the dark air painted maliciously across the once bright horizon. The waves were growing all the braver and larger, as if the dark sky was their time of reign. What made Lavi groaned aloud was his missing boat. The small boat had all but floated away from his sight, and Black Order was too far to be reached by mere swimming.

Suddenly, something swam around his legs. A pointed dorsal fin cut the surface, the sign making Lavi's heart beat at double its normal speed. _Sharks… It had to be sharks, of all things! _Lavi had a grip on his sheathed knife, trying his best not to look like a drowning victim. That was until one of those sharks tugged on his shirt and pulled him downwards.

By his instincts, Lavi struck out using his knife and injured the curious shark. But that only caused the fight to start. The sharks smelt blood, and were driven wholly by it. Razor sharp teeth began to show, their once lazy swimming turned angry and hungry. Lavi got ready his knife once more, but he knew that even he could not hold up against 4 to 5 sharks at the same time.

Just as soon as the first shark struck, something crashed into its side. Something so rapid that even Lavi could not catch it. The sharks turned frenzy, swimming crazily as the big _something_ was tackling them and pushing them away from the struggling human. Lavi didn't care much. He was out of breath and swam straight to the surface. From above, he couldn't see much of the battle. There were red bubbles and wild splashing around, an occasional shark fin appearing. Even from the surface, Lavi knew the fight was furious and so he swam further away from the scene.

A sudden pull of his arm caused Lavi to lash out once more, but at the last moment, he pulled back. The boy he had saved was there!

"Y-You! What're you doing here?!" He cried, holding his cold shoulders and looking around for the boy's ship from whence he came. But there was none and the boy only took his hand and tugged him slowly away. Without any choice, he followed the mysterious boy till he could see his small boat once more. Lavi pulled himself up and groaned in appreciation for solid wood.

"Ah! Are you alright?" The boy's musical voice spoke up, his upper body clinging to the boat's edge.

Lavi sat himself up, smiling at the pretty boy who had such a worrying look on his scarred face. He waved his hand and laughed, "I'm alright! Just a bit shaken, but it'll pass. Thanks for saving me…"

The boy sensed his trailing and perked up delightfully like a polite child, "Allen. Allen Walker. You saved me once; I'm just repaying the favor,"

Lavi moved closer to the edge, watching Allen's muscles tensed up as if sensing an attack from the Captain. It was as if Allen was scared of Lavi, his beautiful silvery eyes darting from side to side. It was clear to Lavi that this small Allen was trying to be brave like the time on the beach, and Lavi found himself thinking that that was what made Allen endearing, "I'm Captain Lavi from Black Order, and consider the favor repaid.. I didn't think that I would've found my boat without you. You should've seen the fight, Allen! There were sharks coming from all directions and they were-"

Lavi heard splashing once more, this time it sounded much, _much _closer. He saw a giant fin behind Allen, and his protective instincts reared loudly. He grabbed onto Allen's shoulders, causing the boy to squawk in surprise. Lavi tried to pull Allen up, but was met with such a stubborn resistance that made Lavi think twice about Allen's weight, "Watch out, Allen! The sharks are back! Quickly, get into the boat!"

The splashing became louder; as if the thing heard Lavi's cries and it retaliated by swimming faster to claim its prey. The giant fin came into view once more, but Allen was flailing around while panicking, "W-Wait! Lavi! Stop! Wait! N-"

Lavi finally managed to pull Allen aboard, and he stepped a few paces back in silent shock.

The giant fin he saw was connected to Allen's hip! Lavi's mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish as he saw a flustered Allen swishing his _tail_ awkwardly from side to side. Allen's face was beet red now; his eyes not making contact with Lavi's searching one. The fin was huge in size, but complimented Allen's slender body shape well. The fin ended with a big tail, the thin yet strong caudal fin held promises of long distance swims. There were also pelvic fins to assists on sharps turns and swift ends, just like a marine animal. The most enchanting thing of all was that the tail was covered completely by the same scales that Lavi picked up. Alas, there was one small spot just above Allen's left side that was missing a scale, and it had looked like the protective cover was ripped apart rather than it dropped naturally.

That small spot missing a scale gave Lavi back his voice, albeit shakily, "Y-you-you're-you're a…."

Allen sighed, tucking his tail –_it's a tail!_\- meekly to his front, "Yes, Lavi. I'm a fae of the sea.. A merman, to be exact,"

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Huuuuuullooooo! I'm back from my camp with a new chapter! Hope you're enjoying this just as much as I am! I absolutely _adore _hearing your reviews and comments about this! *throws confetti* Oh yes, here are some words that you may/may not know about the parts of a ship:

**bow: **front part of a ship

**deck: **one of the levels of a ship

**crow's nest: **lookout tower

**port: **left side of a ship

That'll be all for now~ Thank you for all your comments and reviews, I just love receiving them. They motivate me like no other haha Have a great day! =D


	4. Chapter 4

Throughout his whole life, Lavi has seen many things. From a three-leg goat to a mechanical doll that looked like an actual human girl. In his travels, he had witnessed the locals eating from monkeys' heads and people from the far north used their enemies' skulls as beer mugs. Black Order had once come face to face with the unique whale shark, the largest aquatic animal there was. Yes, Lavi was proud to say that nothing in this world can surprise him anymore.

Apparently, Poseidon had other plans for him.

"You're a... _Merman_?" Lavi held a tight grip at the boat's edges, his muscles ready to spring in case this _merman_ is a carnivore.

Allen's tail twitched like an irritated cat, "Yes, Lavi... You can stop gawping at me anytime now,"

Lavi's eye travelled to the scar that was devoid of a single scale. The sharp slice matched Lavi's small blade perfectly. It made Lavi swallow his guilt at harming his savior. Even if said savior came in the form of an honest-to-goodness _merman_! "I'm sorry.. For that wound,"

Allen shook his silvery head, making small droplets fly from his hair, "It's alright! I'm healing just fine, it's just a scratch!"

The mood turned awkward after that, what with Allen still not making eye contact and Lavi still looking at Allen with disbelief. Allen wasn't wearing anything to cover his upper body, which only emphasized his darkened red left arm for the whole world to see. There were intricate designs and small blue symbols across Allen's small but lithe body; each sign looked as if they were alive and dancing around the pale body.

Finally, Allen cleared his throat and rubbed behind his neck, "I'm going to go now, bye," and immediately dived back down into the deep ocean.

Lavi gained back his muscles movement and looked over the edge with wide eyes, "Wait! Allen!" He bent downwards and shouted at the water like it could convey his message like a telephone, "I'm still lost! Do you know where Black Order is?"

Allen's head narrowly missed Lavi's own when the merman appeared out of the blue. Literally speaking. The once dry head was now soaking wet when Allen smiled amusingly, "Your boat is that way, lost land-walker," he pointed towards north with a delicate hand. Allen's chuckle sounded like tinkling bells in a summer afternoon when Lavi started cursing at his bad luck.

Lavi started rowing with all his strength; the night sky was marred with the soft orange light of a new dawn. Luckily, the stars were still out playing, so Lavi can navigate his way properly. He rowed until he was nearly drained of both mental and physical energy.

A familiar splash made Lavi roll his one good eye. Allen wondered beside the small boat, his voice still as calm as the sea they were stuck in, "Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"For the thousandth time, Allen, **NO**!" Lavi swung his oar purposely at Allen's direction. Allen easily dodged the waving oar and quirked his eyebrows curiously. The merman had popped up every once in a while, asking the same darn question. Lavi was just about had enough to the merman!

Lavi sighed, rolling his shoulders and glared at the still-waiting merman, "Why do you insist on helping me? What do you want?"

Allen scrunched up his nose like a child trying to solve a difficult puzzle, "I want to help you because I want to. Do humans need a reason to help others?"

"There's always a hidden agenda when it comes to us humans. We rarely help without motive," Lavi decided to tell Allen the hard truth now, rather than break the poor boy's heart in the future.

There was silence once more as Lavi continued on rowing. _Allen must've finally left me alone._

After a while, a soft, musing voice spoke close to Lavi's side, "If that's the case... Then it's a good thing I'm a merman instead of a human, right?"

Lavi moved his head whiplash fast to face Allen, but the merman was already gone.

"Try putting your pride aside. Not everyone is what they seem," Allen's whisper was carried by the lulling waves.

Allen didn't return anymore as the sun began to make its way to the sky throne. The stars were already put to sleep, making Lavi's journey hard to steer. The heat and fatigue made Lavi sweat like he was drenched, the bottle of water depleted from before.

He threw the oars down because his muscles were screaming with ache and overuse. Out of desperation, the great Captain Lavi stood up and cried out, "alright! I'm sorry, Allen! You're right, I need your help!"

The only answer the lost pirate got was the swishing of waves and the distant cries of birds. Lavi plopped himself back down without care, "Knew it wouldn't work," he scolded himself. Lavi tore off his headband and released his wild hair, looking to and fro for any, _any_ sign of his beloved ship.

Suddenly, a strong wave rocked the boat and caused Lavi to tumble forward. The surprise caught Lavi off guard, his whole body nearly falling off the moving boat. Melodious laughter rung through the air as more waves began pushing the boat to its destination. Allen's silver tail appeared on the surface before flicking its end at Lavi, telling Lavi that Allen was being playful towards him. Lavi let out an unbelievable laugh, not know how Allen was controlling the waves, but he was really thankful for it.

Soon, the waves brought him nearer to his ship. What was strange was that there was another ship beside Black Order. Loud gunshots were heard and the occasional cry of pain cut through the midday air. Upon closer inspection, it was clear to see that the other ship belonged to the Royal Navy! There was no denying the royal yellow and gold color of the ship's hull, the Royal Navy's insignia flying high and true at the lookout tower.

Quickly, Lavi checked on his armed gun and small blade. He held onto the boat as it floated closer to the battlefield, "Allen, get away from here. It's dangerous!" Lavi hissed, receiving nothing in reply but the fading of strong waves.

Lavi cautiously but swiftly climbed Black Order, dodging the falling bodies that were swallowed up wholly by the blue ocean. He jumped onto the deck, grabbed a fallen sword and cleaved straight into the first soldier he saw. When his crewmates saw their Captain returning from the dead, they roared their battle cry and their will power tripled.

"Ahoy, mates! Let's show these scallywags what we sea buccaneers are made of!" Lavi waved his armed hand into the air before plunging into battle once more. He was joined by Komui and Kanda, both wielding weapons of their own with a wicked grin on their scarred, dirty faces. The loud 'booms' of the cannons echoed the entire battlefield, the singing of swords and shots of guns held their orchestra throughout the day. Black Order embraced the return of her Captain with literal open arms.

The Royal Navy troop didn't stand a chance.

After pillaging and looting whatever gold and treasure they could find on the grand ship, the Black Order steered away to recuperate. Although Black Order was made from tougher stuff, she still had her fair share of injuries and wounds of her own. Komui welcomed back Lavi with a bone-crushing hug, "Shiver my timbers and call me a cackle fruit! You sly seadog, where have you been?!"

Lavi hugged his First Mate back and gazed upon his smiling crew, relief obvious on their tanned faces. He only shook his head in silent gratefulness, "trust me; you wouldn't believe me if I told you!"

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Hullo, hullo! Gomenasai for this late chapter update! I've been swamped by university applications and such, so I didn't have enough time to upload this. But I love how I wrote Merman!Allen, so I hope you do too 3 Oh yes, **cackle fruit **is a real pirate curse word. It means chicken egg hahaha Again, I love hearing opinions and heads up from you guys, so lovely to wake up with comments~ Hope you're having a wonderful day! =D


	5. Chapter 5

For many days and many nights, Black Order weaved her way through the wide ocean; attacking potential ships that came their way and taking the loot as their own. Sometimes they stayed at ports to trade and repair, but they never stayed long for fear of the Royal Navy finding them.

It was a cold, clear night when Lavi decided to grab the night shift away from Noise. The poor crew mate worked hard fixing the broken ropes and towers that he hardly ate, so Lavi -sneakily- put sleeping powder into the man's food and the next thing everyone knew, Noise knocked off with a deep snore and a face-full of spaghetti.

"Captain! Over here!" The stuttering voice of Johnny called out to Lavi. The smart crewman waved his hand in the and as he ran towards Lavi, "I saw something. Come on!"

Intrigued, Lavi followed his man down to the port side. Although there were lanterns and torches lighting the ship, Lavi couldn't see the ocean very well as the night consumed everything in its wake.  
Johnny pointed at a spot as the two men leaned forward, "there! There was something swimming around. I swear!"

Lavi only rolled his eye at his paranoid friend, "Johnny, we're in sea. There's bound to be some sea animals swimming,"

"B-but it was huge! Like, whale huge! Could it be a narwhal? But it had scales! Captain, we're going to be attacked by a scaly narwhal!"

Lavi gripped Johnny's panicking shoulders, heaving a small sigh, "Johnny, there's nothing here... Maybe Noise isn't the only one who needs sleep,"

Sensing the subtle hint, Johnny nodded his compliance, "Yeah.. Too much time in the sun, I suppose. I'll get Timothy to take over for me,"

"You do that, my good man,"

With that, the exhausted Johnny dragged his feet down to the crew's many cabins. It left Lavi to look at the dark ocean once more, the sea acting as if it was mocking the Black Order crew. Something was stopping Lavi from turning away as the Captain continued to watch the spot where Johnny had pointed.  
True to his instincts, a scaly tail jutted out to the surface before disappearing below again. It looked unnaturally huge and scary, but Lavi just thought it was being playful and mischievous.

"Allen?" Lavi whispered after checking whether his crew mates were hanging around. The familiar tail didn't appear again, so Lavi whispered a bit louder, "Allen!"

That prompted the merman to plop his head out, curious as to who was calling his name. When he saw that it was only Lavi, Allen smiled with a surprised look and dived back down with nothing but a silent splash.

"Woah!" Lavi jerked back from the railing as a silver bullet shot up from the ocean.

Allen pulled himself up onto the edge, his lower body dangling down while his arms held onto the wood. As Allen tried his best to adjust himself comfortably, Lavi took the chance to look at Allen's human body properly. The scarred arm looked like it had been scorched mercilessly by the sun itself, ancient designs decorated his left broad shoulder where the scar ended and creamy skin started. Again, Lavi can see the glowing blue symbols dancing along Allen's skin as sleek muscles tightened and loosened accordingly.

"What're you doing here, Allen? Someone could come by and see you!" Lavi hissed, trying to hold onto the flailing Allen. The coldness of Allen's skin pricked Lavi, but the pirate Captain was more worried of getting caught than of his own comfort.

Allen pushed the angry Captain away gently, finally finding a proper position that wouldn't ache his muscles too much, "you called me. Your friend is so easy to scare... And I'm not a narwhal!" Allen chuckled softly.

Lavi heaved yet another exasperated sigh as he gave up trying to chase away the insistent fantasy creature, "You're gonna be a handful, aren't you?" He sat down in front of Allen.

Then, Allen's bright eyes narrowed in silent warning, his teeth a bit baring and a small growl came from the merman's throat. Lavi had thought his comment was insulting to the merman, but Allen's eyes were targeting something under Lavi's belt.

"O-Oh! Sorry!-" Lavi took his blade away, causing Allen's eyes to follow the careful movement. Allen's eyes became slitted like a sea snake as Lavi dropped his blade away from him, "Allen? I'm not gonna hurt you. See?" He showed the growling Allen his placated hands.

Just as soon as the blade hit the solid ground, Allen's slitted eyes expanded and the calm merman was back with a welcoming smile. Lavi could see the silver tail twitching behind Allen; a sign of appeasement.

Allen curiously looked around, trying to get peeks at Lavi's beloved ship, "Why were you killing other humans?"

"Because that's how we get our food, supply and gold. That's how pirates work, Allen. We kill," Lavi leaned back, content on watching the wandering merman, "I hope you weren't anywhere near us during those times. I bet the ocean must've been filled with dead bodies,"

Allen's attention came back to Lavi, his eyes glittered with amusement, and "I've always pondered about humans and their thirst of violence... Nevertheless, the sharks had a feast. And for that, I thank you,"

Lavi, who couldn't sit down in one spot for too long, decided to lie down on his stomach. The new position put Lavi closer to the hanging Allen, who was looking at the Captain with curious but wary eyes. The silver eyes slitted once more as muscles tensed for an attack, but then returned to their normal form after Lavi showed no sudden movement. _It's like talking to a wild animal..._ Which reminded Lavi-

"Hey Allen, do you merpeople eat humans?"

Without blinking an eye, Allen answered with a deadpan look, "We consider you as a delicacy,"

This made Lavi reared back, a put out look on his face. Allen laughed his bell-like laugh, a wide grin and his head thrown back with delightfulness, "Of course not, Lavi. You're too chewy. We mainly eat fish and seaweed. Sometimes crabs and oysters, but seals and whales are our family,"

As Allen explained the many varieties of their food chain and rare treats of the sea, Lavi was caught watching Allen's large tail that moved side to side in happiness. Finding out that Lavi was more interested in his tail rather than the workings of red-sand tropical fishes, Allen smacked his tail downwards and caused a small shower of seawater to fall upon Lavi, "Wish you had one, Lavi?" The merman laughed.

Lavi wiped his face with his hand, playfully teasing, "No, thank you. I like being human,"

By then, the moon was waning and the sun was just about to start its ascension. Allen's gaze turned longingly at the horizon and started to push off the ledge, "I gotta go now. It was nice talking to you, Lavi,"

Lavi waved goodbye to his new friend as Allen dived down back into his terrain. The land bound Captain watched the merman twitched his silver tail as a goodbye wave and returned into the depths.  
That was how Komui found his Captain; looking downwards as if Lavi wanted to drill holes into the ocean. He patted Lavi's shoulders with a tired look, "You know, I'm worried for your sanity,"

Lavi finally allowed his sight to steer away from where Allen had been, "Komui, we're pirates. Since when did we have sanity in the first place?"

* * *

Hullo hullo! I do hope you're enjoying this new update just as much as I enjoy writing it! I imagined Merman!Allen acting like Toothless, since both fantasy creatures are believed to originate from reptiles and all. So this is how I think merfolk are gonna act if we humans come in contact with them hahaha

I'm sure you guys know that I won't be updating during the weekends, so the next chapter will only come out on Monday~ Again, your comments and opinions complete me, so thank you for leaving them ^^ Have a wonderful weekend!


	6. Chapter 6

As time passed with the sun chasing the moon away from the sky and vice versa, Black Order finally landed on a port in a modest fishermen village. The ship's basement was flooded with gold and loot taken from the best of the best Royal Navy ships, and Black Order is in dire need of new raw materials and nourishment.

"If I have to eat another days-old dry biscuit with even-older water, I'll throw myself over the sea," Lavi mumbled to himself as he walked along the shore of the village.

It was a clear, bright afternoon and Lavi could hear the distant sound of the village's market bustling with shouts and life. The village's beach was a marvel of its own, what with their soft white sand and light blue waters. Lavi immediately took the opportunity to get away from the noise and business. Don't get him wrong; he dearly loved his crewmates as his own brethren. But a man can only handle so much in the same company with the same men for a long amount of time. Lavi would've gotten insane if it weren't for his wonderfully new friend.

"Lavi!" A cheerful cry pierced through the fresh air.

Allen waved his hands at the air as Lavi came closer, his tail swishing happily behind him. Lavi sat on top of one of those giant rocks that dared to defy against the harsh waves. Allen swam excitedly around the cove, laughing as he splashed water at the now-grumpy Captain.

Lavi thanked Poseidon and the Gods for Allen and all his natural curiosity. They had spent a large amount of time together when the moon reined the sky and the stars were all at play. After making sure nobody was nearby and Komui wasn't annoying him to eat his vegetables, Lavi allowed Allen to -_literally_\- hang around at the ship's sides. They talked for hours on idle things. Topics varied from 'what do humans do in their free time?' to 'how do merfolk reproduce?' Needless to say, Allen flustered around that question like a gaping fish. Here, Lavi enjoyed their time. It was as if it was only Allen and him in a quiet, deserted world of their own. As soon as the first sign of the sun cut through the darkened sky, Allen was off and Lavi returned to his captain cabin, trying to steal whatever time that was left before Lenalee or Kanda came crashing in and ordering him to "get your lazy arse out of bed, ya scallop gag!"

"Lavi! Why the gloom look?" Allen peered closer, his face showed a worried look that made Lavi want to wipe the ugly expression away. Allen's face was meant to be smiling all the time, devoid of the ferocity and cruelty of the world.

Lavi shook his head and playfully kicked Allen off the rock, "it's nothing, Allen. Don't worry," Lavi chose to hold his tongue. His crew was as sharp as their weapons, and they took note that their Captain was sleeping late and leaving dinner time early. Already, Lavi had been at the receiver's end of Komui's constant pestering, Kanda's empty _(?)_ threats and Lenalee's coddling. He didn't want to worry them, so he just shrugged all of them off and continued his lazy way. _But still.._ The probability of him sneaking off and spend time with Allen is getting thinner...

"Lavi!" Allen got tired of playing a fool around with the small school of fish, and floated in front of the musing Lavi, unaware of Lavi's inner turmoil, "come and swim with me!"

"A-ah, Allen..." Lavi gave his good friend a sheepishly look. He looked around, searching whether his brethren is around, "sorry, Allen... I'm.. Err.."

"Don't worry, Lavi. The water's not that deep! Come on! What're you waiting for?" Allen's tail splashed the water insistently, showing off Allen's impatience for play. But Lavi didn't go down into the water, where he felt vulnerable without his blade. There was nothing in the water that can defend Lavi, and he'll technically be at the mercy of Allen. It all came boiling down to a simple question that Lavi had dreaded to answer: _Can I trust Allen?_

Allen read through Lavi's hesitance and wary look, and his tail dropped sadly in the water. He hissed before lowering to a depressed tone, "Fine then, stay where you feel _safe_! Who would want to swim with a carnivore like _me_, right?"

"W-Wait! Allen!" But Lavi stuttered too late, Allen was already gone with a vicious swipe of his tail to send water droplets at Lavi.

After Black Order was well-repaired and fully functional, Komui took one look at his Captain and sighed, "Okay, what happened?"

Lavi zoned out, shrugging his shoulders as his signature answer and continued to look beyond the ocean. Lavi had a crease in his forehead, signifying his deep thinking. Komui concluded that whatever was in his Captain's mind, it must be awfully important. Lavi wouldn't dwell on things that weren't precious or worthwhile to him.

"We're known as merciless killers with nothing but greed to motivate us. Why should we pirates trust naive people that mean nothing to us?" Lavi mused out loud, his bottle-green eye softened with unreadable emotion.

Komui rolled his eyes, thinking that some pretty lady must've rejected Lavi's advances by calling him a 'no-good pirate thief'. It wouldn't be the first time they were called that, and it wouldn't be the last. But it wouldn't explain Lavi's depressed mood. Komui patted Lavi's shoulders in comfort, "because sometimes, trust is all we have. We're not like other pirates, Lavi, I'm sure you know that. Sometimes... You just gotta listen to your heart,"

From that day onwards, Allen didn't appear at the crack of evening like he always did. There was neither tail nor wave from the ocean below, and Lavi had never felt so bleak and empty before. His evenings were spent with his crewmates again, laughing joyfully and singing to the tunes of the olden days. But Lavi still felt lonely although he was surrounded by many, and his nightly walks turned silent as his shadow was the only companion he had. Scrutz, even annoying Kanda wasn't as appealing as before!

Looting yet another lost ship gave Lavi a shot of adrenaline again, before the mood drowned itself in sorrow once more. Among the 'salary' they took, Lavi found a pretty pearl necklace that reminded him so very much like Allen's shining eyes when the merman was interested in something. The constant pining was hard on the cold-hearted Captain, and it irritated him to the core. He had to do something before he lost his own mind!

Therefore, every night, Lavi took a pearl from the necklace and threw it into the ocean. The round pearl dropped steadily into the gaping sea, never to be seen again. Lavi solemnly swore that if Allen didn't appear when the last pearl fell, he would forget all about the merman and continue living his life. He was Captain Lavi of the awesome pirate ship, Black Order, and he'll live a free life like he always did!

"Oh Poseidon, what am I doing with my life?" Lavi fell face flat onto the solid ground of his open deck. The stars and moon were mocking him, he was sure of it! He took another swing of his bottled beer as he sat himself up to lean against the railing. He can't do this. The last pearl sat daintily on his open palm, ready to join the ocean once again. But Lavi was a selfish pirate, and closed his fist tightly as if the pearl would roll away and fall on its own. He gazed upon the silver moon, wondering when his life became so dependent on that weakling merman. The moon looked beautiful, with all its nighty splendor and magnificence. It reminded Lavi of Allen's own appearance; it was as if Allen's eyes and hair had stolen its color from the very moon!

"Lavi,"

_Great, now I'm hearing things..._

"Lavi!"

Lavi straightened his back at the jolt and quickly rubbed his eyes. In front of him, Allen wore a less than amused face. The annoyed merman dropped the many pearls onto the deck, the wet jewelry rolling around, "Aren't you supposed to sell these to get those things you call 'money'?"

Lavi didn't care about secrecy and silence. He ran to Allen and pulled him up into a hug, not caring that the merman weighed a ton or two and said merman was struggling against his grip.

"L-Lavi! Someone's going to come if you don't let go of me now!" Allen whispered harshly into Lavi's ear.

Lavi plopped his bottom down on the ground, but still held the merman in his chest, "No.. If I let go of you, you'll do your merman-magic and disappear again,"

Allen pushed himself away, and Lavi allowed the leeway. So the pirate settled with his hands clasped behind the small of Allen's back. Allen pushed away Lavi's wild hair from his sweaty forehead, "_merman-magic?_ Lavi-"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Allen," Lavi mumbled, pouting like a guilty child instead of a fearsome pirate, "Forgive me?"

Allen only smiled, his wet tail -_Gods, I miss that tail!_\- twitching contently again, "You're forgiven a long time ago, stupid human,"

Lavi's heart splurged on the delight of Allen's voice. Without warning, he carried Allen to the edge, "come on, Allen, and let's go for a swim!"

"Wait! Lavi! your clothe-"

And he plunged into the cold ocean with Allen screaming in his arms.

"You stupid Lavi! What do you think you're doing?!" Allen swam around Lavi, who only chuckled at Allen's worry.

"I'm swimming with my best friend. What else?" Lavi grinned cockily, swimming on par with a shock Allen.

The two swam for some time, each trying to outdo each other through swimming or just trying to entertain the other. It was obvious to Lavi that Allen was truly in his own element. Allen flitted and slithered smoothly through the water, his tail maneuvering expertly. Allen swam around Lavi as the human held his breath underwater, totally content on watching Allen do acrobats. Allen's silvery eyes were covered with some transparent lid, aiding the merman's sight underwater. Lavi couldn't help but reach out and touch Allen's tail when he swam past by. Allen had once told him that his scales were as tough as diamonds to protect against predators with sharp teeth such as sharks, but all Lavi felt was feather-like softness. The scales seemed to change color accordingly, reflecting the moon and ocean magically. The tail was a wonder to behold indeed!

Unfortunately, Lavi was still a human with human needs, so he went back up to the surface to breath. Allen followed along, laughing at Lavi's panting.

Then, Lavi shuffled Allen's hair, "how should I call on you if I want to see you?"

Allen flicked Lavi's head with his tail in revenge before pointing up to the dawn sky, "Just look at the moon and call my name. If it's you, I'll answer your call no matter how far we're apart,"

Lavi smiled and gave one last hug to Allen, who returned the hug with his own. Suddenly, Krory's voice called out, "Ahoy there, Cap! Are you alright? Do you need help?!"

Allen was already down when Lavi shouted in surprise, "No! It's alright, Krory! Just... Had too much to drink, so I thought a good swim might wake me!" Lavi could feel Allen's large tail swimming around his floating legs, signifying that Allen was alright and undetected.

As soon as Lavi had changed and was up and about, the morning sun was already high in the sky. Unlike all the past times where Lavi felt woeful, this morning gave the Captain a new burst of energy.

Komui lifted an eyebrow at his Captain's sudden mood change, "you feeling alright, Captain?"

Lavi laughed gaily, holding the wheel and turning it to a new direction. The ship followed her Captain's uplifting mood and Lavi threw a wink at his First Mate, "Never felt better. That swim really did wonders to me,"

* * *

Did I just write Lavi/Allen's first mini-fight? I did! Hahahahahahaha I'm so mean XD I do hope you enjoy reading this chapter. There was a bit of silence after my last chapter, so I was afraid that I'm not good enough :S Alright, I guess that'll be all! Have a wonderful day =D


	7. Chapter 7

Time travelled past by them within a blink of an eye. After the swimming incident, Allen and Lavi had integrated back to their usual schedule; at the break of evening, Allen would usually announce his presence with his tail or a small wave, and Lavi would excuse himself from his suspicious crew. Sometimes, Lavi would introduce his dinner to Allen, but the merman had no interest in cooked food whatsoever. Lavi taught Allen all about human technology and their impact to the environment while Allen returned the favor by telling stories of penguins and squids and whatever he had in mind. They shared tales and secrets they told nobody before, all the while hiding in their little corner like mischievous kids out for a midnight snack.

The Black Order crew was beside themselves. It was true that they were worried when Lavi had fallen into depression without prior notice, but then their beloved Captain had recovered from that gloom as fast as a whippersnapper. The sudden whiplash of emotions gave all of them a headache and they began to wonder whether Lavi was now in his right mind or were they going to experience yet another 180 degree mood swing soon?

Lenalee, bless her lovely soul, had taken to her Captain like sea sponges to corals. It was she who took the first step into finding out what had happened to her Captain, and it was she who stood in front of her Captain's cabin, hearing Lavi humming to the tune of '40 Bottles of Rum'.

"Come in!" Lavi had this uncanny sense to detect people's arrival. Lenalee was just as shock as everybody else at first when she had tried to sneak past a sleeping Lavi to go to a late night pub and got a growling, "Yer better back befo' sunrise or we leavin' without ya, ya rat snogger!"

Lenalee entered the largest cabin of Black Order and stood at attention. Captain Lavi was musing around as he paced his cabin, a hand cupped to his chin and the other tucked behind as a sign of deep thinking. But Lenalee saw the amusing smile on Lavi's face, so she wasn't all that worried of him...

That was until Lavi asked Lenalee in all seriousness, "Where do you think I can hide a large body in here?"

Lenalee blinked once, then twice. Then decided to go with her insane Captain's flow, "beside your bed but before your bedside table,"

Lavi chirped and looked at the designated spot with pure determination, "hmm... Ah, yes, I can picture it now! You're wonderful, Lenalee. What'll I do without you?"

Meanwhile, the Black Order crew was rounding the deck doing their common work. Some were playing cards (while Lavi wasn't around) and some were tightening the knots around the large ropes. Timothy was learning how to patch up a scarred wound with just a simple lighted match when he heard a strong tug from below, "Hey! We caught the fish!"

A row of bellows and confirmation echoed the open deck as the crew went into action. Every Tuesday was fishing day, especially when they heard that the area was filled with fat fish and crabs. The net they used was old and almost torn, but durable enough to hold a hammerhead shark if needed. As they pulled the giant net onto their ship, they marveled at the humongous amount of fresh fish.

And something else entirely.

The strong net broke under pressure and fish fell out of their trap, flapping and wriggling. But the crew stepped back in horror as something not a fish started to move about, looking as if it was lost in its surroundings. Then, somebody broke the silence, "**MONSTER!"**

"I'm fine, Lenalee. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Lavi assured his musician patiently as he started to push his furniture around. Now that he had space in his cabin, all he had to do was to find an aquarium large enough to keep Allen hydrated. _Maybe a chest? Does Allen even need those sea plants to munch on?_

"CAPTAIN! LAAAAVIIIII!" Timothy's crying voice snapped the both of them from their different thought worlds.

The young crew mate crashed into the cabin, panting and wheezing, "T-t-there's a monster! A monster on deck! K-Kanda's fighting it n-now!"

Lavi's heart gripped with fear. He grabbed his sword with one smooth move and raced to the deck without uttering a word. _Please. Please. Please don't be-_

On the deck, all his crew mates were shouting profanities and cheering with their fists and weapons in the air. Lavi pushed his way through, his breaths coming in pants like his lungs were constricting on themselves. Lavi's lungs weren't the real problem; his own heart was bursting in ache as he went closer, the familiar katana song that belonged only to one person sliced through Lavi's sensitive ears.

Then, he was thrown to the front to see the carnage. Time slowed down to a halt.

Blood was literally everywhere like it was water, dead and almost dead fish scattered the ground like human bodies. But Lavi didn't care about the small bodies, nor did he care about the God-awful stench that smelt only of blood and sea. His eye watered as he saw what lay before him;

Allen, lying on his side with new injuries that marred on his once pale skin.

The merman was panting loudly like his aquatic brethren that died beside him. His silver eyes became misty-like as the human swordsman came closer with that accursed sword, and Allen let out a warning growl. The weather turned darker in turn, the echo of thunder drummed the sky and the sea summoned massive waves that rocked the ship furiously. Allen could feel the thrum of his power, and all it took was a burst and-

"ALLEN!"

The merman snapped out of his stupor, hearing desperation in his name calling. Lavi pushed Kanda away and ran to the wounded Allen, not caring how the rough Captain looked like to his crew mates.

"L-Lavi..." Allen gasped, his breath coming out short. The injuries and pain came back with vengeance, and Allen whined helplessly.

"Ssh... It's alright, Allen. I gotcha. I got ya. Nobody's going to hurt you anymore," Lavi murmured softly, contrary to his usually gruff voice.

Lavi's clothes and skin was now drenched with blood and sea water, but all he cared about was the merman he held in his arms. Lavi winced as if he could feel Allen's suffering as he carried his best friend.

Allen's shaking arms hugged Lavi's neck as Lavi buried his face to Allen's messy head, "L-Lavi.. Take m'back-ocean,"

Lavi's legs moved automatically to the secret spot where they spent their nighttime together. His crew made way for the silent Captain, but Lavi took no heed whatsoever. There, Lavi whispered to Allen's ear sadly, "I'm sorry, my dear Allen,"

He dropped Allen into the welcoming ocean, and leaned at the edge to watch Allen's body sink deeper into the depths. Lavi couldn't think anymore, his mind and heart were unable to work as if they had followed Allen into the sea.

"Traitor!" His crew mates cursed, and Lavi was immediately captured.

He was put to chains and all but his pants were ripped away from him. Lavi growled half-heartedly and glared at the jeering crew mates, but he had neither strength nor spirit to break free of his restrains. It was plain mutiny for all to see, and Lavi fell apart both physically and mentally.

A fortnight devoid of food and shelter, First Mate Komui made the judgment upon the weakened Lavi. According to the laws of the sea and pirates, Captain Lavi of the Black Order was to be flogged 40 times without stopping.

Lavi didn't even move a muscle at his sentence. Only stood tall and emotionless, as was his Captain stance.

"You know, these sea creatures are evil, Lavi. Look at what that witch did to you!" Komui hissed, tying the knots to hold Lavi up.

With both his hands tied to either side of two large poles, Lavi spat at the ship floor and looked at his First Mate in the eye, "Allen is my best friend. And I _trust_ him,"

Komui picked up on the advice he once gave his Captain, but shook his head sadly, "Then you shall suffer with that trust,"

As the ship's Quartermaster, Bookman came out with a big cat o' nine tails. It was a whip that was to be feared by all who disobeyed the laws. It was a long unwound rope whip of nine strands, this granting it the name cat o' nine tails. The ends were in tarred knots to give the criminal a more effective beating. Although the whip looked barbaric, the whipping barely led to death.

Lavi sorely chuckled. _After 40 whips, they'll cover my raw skin with salt and vinegar to inflict additional pain and suffering. It's as if they think that I can suffer anymore deeper!_ Lavi tugged on the ropes that held him, but it seemed that he had taught Komui all too well in the art of knots. He didn't know whether to be proud or curse in this matter.

"Are you ready, Captain?" The graveling voice of Bookman called out from behind him.

Let it not be said that Lavi cried out for mercy and plea. After all that he had been through, he was still a pirate captain. Albeit, a _broken hearted_ one.

He breathed in deeply and threw a wicked grin equal to his pirate position, "Do yor worst, ya bilge rat!"

And the countdown started.

* * *

**The End**


	8. Chapter 8

Imagine walking barefooted on a sandy beach. Now, imagine the sand was burning as hot as the sun itself. Every step you took made pins and needles the size of golf balls pierce your thin, sensitive skin. You continue walking, for fear that if you stop moving, you die. The pain is there, creeping slowly from the soles of your feet to your very chest. Now, your whole body is tingling with agony. You thought you screamed out loud, but you can't hear any sound. The suffering continues on and on and on..

Until a wave of coolness falls over you, drenching you in its wake. The pain you felt is gently washed away, soft touches glided over your skin, a voice so sweetly spoken that you would gladly give everything up for more healing.

"**MONSTER!**"

Lavi gasped, opening his bleary eye and forcing himself to come into consciousness. Blurriness handicapped his keen eyesight, but there was no mistaking the familiar silver haired man who was hovering over him protectively.

"A-Allen?" Lavi's voice came out like steel to dirt, as if he hadn't used his voice for centuries.

Allen wasn't looking at Lavi; he was too busy glaring at the shock crew of Black Order. Allen's arms covered Lavi's soaked but injured body, his healing magic glowing light blue as were his symbols. He had used too much energy to revitalize himself and only came in the nick of time to save Lavi from certain death. His water whip still swirled from his waist, the tight rope that restrained Lavi lay broken before them.

"Please-" Allen whispered, his eyes full of sorrow, "-if you want to punish someone, punish me. Lavi is my best friend, he didn't do anything wrong!"

"Lavi has betrayed us all. We can't let this pass-"

"Lavi is your _Captain_!" Allen shouted at them, his patience worn thin, "He has brought you nothing but dead men's gold and treasures! He gave all of you a home and a family when you had none. He speaks of you like true brothers and nothing foul about you have ever escaped from his mouth... If one of you wants to carry arms against Lavi, then by Moon Goddess Herself, I'll strike you down myself, here and now!"

Lavi sighed at the drama before him, and pushed himself up. He croaked at the angered Allen, "Allen, go back!"

"No," Allen shook his head, finally taking his eyes away from the Black Order crew and stated with that same naive determination, "I left you once. I won't leave you again,"

Allen squeezed his palms shut, and opening Lavi's mouth, he poured the most chilling water Lavi has ever tasted in his whole life. Lavi felt his energy returned and his breathes came easier and smoother.

Komui watched closely as the strange creature fed Lavi unnatural water straight from its palms. He witnessed Lavi's own fresh wounds disappearing like wet paint, leaving fainted scars that could only appear after days instead of minutes.

"Lavi? Captain, what's going on?" Krory finally voiced out the crew's confusion.

Lavi slowly got up to his own two feet like a revived dead man walking his first living steps, and stretched his aching muscles. He felt like he could take over the whole world! Rejuvenated and rejoiced that Allen is alive and well, he turned to his crewmen with the same cocky smile, "Black Order, this is Allen Walker, my best friend and merman extraordinaire. Allen, meet my family, Black Order,"

Allen bowed his head politely and smiled lightly, his tail unmoving behind him, "Aye. T'is an honor to finally meet all of you,"

For a while, nobody moved an inch. They were too absorbed in gawping at the abnormality that was Allen's tail. Allen felt self-conscious and tried to tuck his tail in, but Lavi placed an assuring hand over the scaly body to calm the tensed merman down.

The first one to take action was not a brave one, but a curious crew mate nonetheless. Miranda, the ship's frantic medic, took delicate steps closer to Allen and her Captain. Lenalee was also entranced but wary, so she followed side by side with a hand enclosed around her scimitar's handle. Krory stopped them with a hand on the women's shoulders, "Wait! What if it's dangerous?"

"Then Lavi would've been dead and we'd all die of guilt and misery," Lenalee retorted, shrugging the hand off her shoulders and pulling Miranda along.

Miranda was a soft-spoken woman, physically weak but mentally strong. She had seen many things during her pirate days, but never one so unique and intriguing before. She knelt down in front of the merman, not taking her eyes off of him. When she lifted her hand to touch him, Allen's eyes became slits and his breaths came in huffs as a warning.

"Fascinating... Just like a snake," Miranda said, letting her hand fall to her side.

"Allen," Lavi's voice spoke softly, rubbing the scales comfortingly, "it's alright. They won't hurt you,"

Lenalee took that warning by heart and moved her hand away from her sheathed weapon. She tried to touch Allen too, but the young man only flinched away. But Lenalee wasn't one to deter from her goal so easily, so she cooed like her maternal instincts dictated, "I'm Lenalee. Please to meet you, Allen sweet,"

Allen's slit eyes narrowed at Lenalee's flowery words, and then slowly, it expanded. Lenalee made sure that Allen could see her hands and she came closer. She poured honeyed words of consolation, contradicting a female pirate's merciless self.

After a close eternity, Lenalee managed to cup Allen's cheek. The merman heaved a sigh, and closed his eyes to purr. When Allen revealed his shining silver eyes once again, Lenalee's breath was caught, "_beautiful_,"

Miranda, feeling braver, held Allen's hand and turned it around like a professional medic, "You have webbed hands! That's wonderful! I guess it's logical, since you live in the sea and all..."

The female pirates fawned all over Allen, who answered their questions with a flustered tone and a cute blushing face. The girls were ruthless, whether it came to pillaging or getting to know new people. Lavi stood by, contented on just watching Allen being Allen.

"Your hand is twitching where your sword used to be, Cap," Komui stated his observation from beside him.

Lavi didn't realize that. He cleared his throat and clasped his hands behind his back instead, "As a precaution, just in case Allen gets attacked and all,"

"Uh-huh, sure, ya doltish bugswallower!" Komui hit Lavi from the back as the crew tentatively made their way to the newbie, "I wish you would've trusted us more. This wouldn't have happened if you told us-"

"Told you what? That I have a merman as a best friend and that I swim during the cold nights with a fictional character that isn't supposed to be real?" Lavi chuckled.

Before Komui could retaliate, a scoff from Lavi's other side took their attention, "Merpeople aren't supposed to interfere with human business. This little squirt can cause misfortune," Kanda growled.

Allen perked his ears up and shouted angrily, "the only misfortune around here is you. You're just lucky Lavi stopped me from attacking you, or else I would've sent you to meet Gordon's Gate!"

"Why don't you try now, small fry?"

"My name is Allen Walker. But I can't blame you; old people tend to forget important things," Allen stuck his tongue out cheekily.

Lavi stepped between them before Kanda unsheathed his katana, "Aaaand here is where we say goodbye!" He plucked Allen from the crew's grasps and carried him to the edge of the ship, "Allen needs to recover. We've all had a long and bothersome day, so nobody bothers nobody, geddit, ya bullorwhacks?!"

"Lavi," Allen's voice tugged Lavi's attention back, "Can... If it's not too much trouble... Can I come back to see you?"

Lavi's harsh face melted into a soft look and the iron-spirited Captain nuzzled into Allen's silvery white hair, "Anytime, Allen. Anytime,"

Allen buried his face into Lavi's still bared chest, "I'm sorry... For the 'flogking' earlier,"

"It's called flogging, Allen. And there's nothing to apologize about..."

Allen whined, holding Lavi's neck tightly, "I'm so happy that you're alive. I thought I was too late,"

"I'm glad you're okay too, Allen. I was so worried that-"

"JUST _DROP_ HIM ALREADY, LAVI!"

* * *

Hahahahaha Did I scare you guys with the last chapter? I'm sorry, I couldn't resist! I absolutely _adored _your reactions and comments! Yes, of course I'm going to continue this story, it's only half-way done! And you know I don't like leaving things half-done! Please don't be mad, I'm sorry! Really!

Alright, how about this; in punishment for scaring you like that, send me all your curse words. W-Wait, not like that! I meant curse words in pirate language. Think of any creative curse words or sentences used in those pirate-y days and I'll use them in my story! (credits go to you, of course!) Is that better? Release your anger by pirate cursing hahahaha

As usual, I really love your comments and opinions about how this story is progressing! So keep me motivated ;) Have an awesome day!


	9. Chapter 9

After the terrible miscommunication, the crew got used to Lavi's sudden mood swings. At night, Allen came by for a visit and went back into the sea by dawn. But as days passed and after a lot of looting and pillaging, Allen's visits became rarer and quicker. Lavi's mood changed from a hyperactive bunny to a gloomy seadog within a day. Plundering the Royal Navy didn't appeal to Lavi as awesome as it used to be, and Lavi felt depressed once more while his heart felt the pang of sickness.

"LAND HO!" Timothy's still-unbroken voice called out from his crow nest.

This time, Black Order anchored near a deserted island. It was huge in size, with mountains covered with green, lush grass and tall trees. The island looked clean and untouched by humans, so the pirate crew took the advantage and rested their sore bones without worry of capture. Lavi and part of crew volunteered to venture through the uncharted land for tree sap to repair their loving ship and also hunt for animals for meat. Only Bookman and Krory voted to stay on board, their wariness of new land made the decision for them.

Lavi and Lenalee escaped from the crew to wash their tired feet in the shallows. The water was cold, but soothing to one's poor bunions. Lavi let out a groaning sigh, thankful to all the sea Gods for this chance of relaxation.

"Allen got you good, didn't he?" Lenalee's laughing tease cut through the silence.

Lavi only quirked an eyebrow at his musician, "What're you blabbering about now, sea witch?"

The reply Lavi got came in the form of a strong splash and a curse word not meant to be spoken from feminine mouths, "It's so obvious," Lenalee kicked the sand from below her wet feet, "The way you look at Allen is different from the way you look at us,"

"But Allen's my best friend!" Lavi fought back, wading knee-deep in the shallows, looking for pretty sea shells to be given to Allen.

Lenalee only grunted, "Miranda is my best friend and I most certainly do not look at her _that_ way!"

"What way?"

The female pirate stared at her Captain incredulously. She wondered to herself whether daftness ran naturally in men's blood or was it taught along the way of life... Then, something caught her eye.

"Hey, isn't that Allen?" She pointed outwards.

Quick as a flash, Lavi turned and cheered out loud like he hasn't seen the merman for centuries, "AAAAAAALLEEEEEEEEEEEEN!"

Allen was too far away from the shore, but he waved his hands frantically in the air. Lavi waved back happily, but Allen still waved his arms high up in a frantic motion. Lavi squinted his eye and tried to catch Allen's words. He murmured, "that's strange.. He kinda looks.. Spooked?"

"What? Why would Allen look frightened? He's a merman!" Lenalee joined Lavi to search for Allen.

Lavi decided to climb on top of a giant rock and shouted, "ALLEN! We can't hear you!"

Allen didn't go any closer, which was already odd in Lavi's case. Allen cupped his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs, "GET OUT OF HERE!"

"Huh?"

"Erm... Lavi?..." Lenalee was shaking visibly now, and this only made Lavi twitch his hand that held his sword. Lenalee pointed downwards where Lavi was still standing, "... Since when do rocks blow bubbles?"

There were bubbles coming out from underneath the rocks, and Lavi said the most intelligent thing he could think of, "Oh-uh,"

Suddenly, the entire island shook like an earthquake. Lavi fell backwards and landed squarely on the sand, which were actually small-sized scales.

Meanwhile, Bookman heard shouting and he looked out to see the crew running towards the ship. What was dangerously strange was that the forest behind them was shrinking?! Something was pulling the flora into the dirt ground, every inch of grass absorbed as easily as water. Kanda screeched as he jumped inboard, "It's alive! Get out of here!"

Krory was just about finished tying the small boat when a giant wave shook the ship to and fro. A gigantic fin appeared at the port side, before falling into the water and caused a massive wave that almost swallowed Black Order whole. A roar bellowed into the air, and the island moved forward as a humongous head came out to breath.

It was a giant turtle!

"Shoot me down and call me a bukaroo! We're on the freakin' legendary _Moving Island_!" Lavi laughed hilariously.

"SHUT UP AND RUN, YER STUPID SCURVY RAT!" Lenalee screeched beside him.

They were running alongside the edges of said turtle, the movement of the animal causing abrupt shakes and vibrations. More than once had Lenalee and Lavi falling to their knees, only to be helped up by the other. They were unable to jump into the ocean as the turtle was resurfacing and it was _a damn long way down!_

"Lavi! Lenalee!"

Allen was swimming beside them, his tail moving furiously to keep up with the turtle, "follow me!"

Lavi and Lenalee doubled their speed as they followed behind the aquatic silver bullet. Soon, they could see Black Order ahead of them. Allen shouted at them with a panicked voice, "You have to jump from there! Hurry, before the turtle div-"

A flipper knocked both Allen and Black Order away, sending crashes of waves and threatened to drown them completely.

"Lenalee, ready?" Lavi grabbed Lenalee's hand and pulled her to the ledge, "1... 2... 3... JUMP!"

Lavi's mouth was bombarded with water as soon as his body fell into the ocean. The current was too strong and he felt like a puppet being thrown from side to side. Bubbles covered his vision and he felt dizzy in confusion, wondering which way was up.

Lavi's saving grace came in the form of Komui, who had seen his Captain drowning and had quickly pulled the poor man out of danger. Lavi chocked and gasped as he tasted sweet air.

"Lenalee? Where is she?!" Komui frantically searched the vicinity for his sister. There was neither head nor body seen, and the current was getting wilder every second. Komui's heart beat loudly until he could hear nothing but it; his mind repeated prayers to every deity and begged to mercy above for Lenalee to just. Be. _Alright._

Out of the blue, Allen came out with a loud gasp of his own. With resolute determination, he swam sideways to Black Order with something in tow.

"Lenalee!" Komui cried out in relief, taking his unconscious but alive sister from the panting merman.

Allen pursed his lips as the siblings embraced and announced to Komui, "I have to go now... Please take care of yourselves,"

Allen left when he finished that sentence, swimming away from the confused Black Order.

Lavi clasped Komui's shoulders as he coughed out water, "what did Allen say?"

Komui furrowed his eyebrows and wore such a serious look that it made Lavi dreaded the worst, "-that something's not right... Allen looks almost worried. And if a merman is worried.. Then we should be worried as well,"

* * *

Oh look, a cliffhanger!

I'd like to send my warmest thank you and hugs to you who commented; it gave me so much of motivation here haha I got this chapter's inspiration from Sinbad the Movie (It's a pretty funny/adventurous story)

And I also like to give credits to the all-wonderful kittyluv2000 for the pirate curse word "Scurvy rat" -I'm sure Lenalee loves using it too!-


	10. Chapter 10

Fortunately, Black Order had collected enough supplies from the Moving Island before it jumped and disappeared. It was unfortunate that they couldn't hunt any food, but what kind of animal would dare live on the very shell of the giant turtle? There were a few scratches done by the dinosaur turtle (Bookman himself cried for 8 minutes straight before taking a bucketful of tree sap and a wet sponge) but the animal didn't do any permanent damage at the end.

After all the commotion and whatnot, Black Order was up and ready for action. Lavi watched closely as his crew were bustling about, their dinner left unattended for now as more jovial activities (i.e drinking, dancing) took charge on the open deck.

"Lavi?" A small voice whispered from below Lavi.

Lavi jerked back in surprise, but then laughed in happiness as he saw the little merman hanging by the edge with a tired smile. Without thinking of the consequences (as per usual when it came to Captain Lavi), Lavi carried the shock merman up and hugged the living daylights out of him, "Allen! You're alright! Me feared the worst when the wave came out of nowhere n' ye disappeared!"

"I'm fine, Lavi. Please let me down now," Allen gripped Lavi's broad shoulders tightly, afraid that he was to be dropped to solid ground.

"Aye, Cap! Yer should let 'im down before ya drop him like a sack of potatoes!" Komui said, lifting his mug of beer as a greeting to the now-dizzy Allen.

Lavi didn't let go of his best friend, however. Only opted to carry him bridal-style and sat at the ship's railing. A dangerous position, but Lavi relished on danger every day. He stuck out his tongue in childish defiance to his almost drunk First Mate.

"Lavi.. I want to apologize about your encounter with Old Man," Allen said, trying to adjust himself in Lavi's arms, "He wasn't supposed to be in this area at all, you see... And when I asked him why, all he said was something had scared him away from his usual place and he wasn't going to go back there anytime soon because of that,"

Lavi creased his eyebrows, chewing on Allen's explanation, "Something _scared_ him? What kind of thing has the ability to scare such a huge creature like him? A giant squid? Whale shark?"

Allen shook his head, sending little droplets to Lavi's shirt, "squids and other predators know better than to mess with Old Man. And whale sharks are solitude beings. They're grumpy and territorial in nature, but they would never harm another sentient being like Old Man,"

A piping voice entered the conversation, "Yer call the Moving Island as Old Man?! Haha Now I've seen everything!" Reever, the ship chef came with two new mugs, the alcoholic contents threatened to spill out from its containment.

Lavi gently placed Allen on top of the railing beside him, and took the 2 mugs from the woozy chef. Allen sniffed at the mug tentatively before scrunching up his nose in disgust, "you actually _enjoy_ drinking this?"

Lavi smiled as he put one of the mugs onto a passing platter, and he drank from his own mug heartily before stating the obvious, "We're pirates-" before Allen could retaliate, Lavi snapped his fingers, "-Ah yes, that reminds me; I've got a surprise for you. Wait here,"

"Where else can I go?" Allen sighed, emphasizing his pointed question with a flip of his merman tail. Lavi jumped down and ran down the stairs. He came out nearly a half minute later with a treasure chest as large as Noise himself. And that was saying something!

"Erm... Lavi? You know I'm not interested in human gold, right?" Allen twitched his tail curiously; looking at the rusty red chest like it offended him somehow.

The (not drunken half) crew was curious as to why their Captain had carried the whale-ton chest to be presented to the merman. Lavi reveled on the attention and he smiled triumphantly, "Ah, Allen! But this is no simple chest! Feast yer eyes on this!"

Lavi kicked open the chest and inside was water. Filled almost to the brim with it. The crew looked on with a confused look, but Allen himself had already caught on what his best friend was trying to do, "Lavi. I'm no pet. If you think I'll get into that-"

"No! Nonononononono, Allen! Yer words wound me heart!" Lavi mockingly placed his hands at his chest, "It's to help you stay here longer! See, it's sea water!"

Allen begrudgingly allowed Lavi to carry him into the chest. Allen had to admit; it was a relief to breath normally in his home element rather than the dry air. Although the chest was a bit snug, Allen saw that Lavi had padded the insides with some sort of human-made material that stopped his delicate body from getting scratched or injured. Allen let out a sigh of relaxation as he buried comfortably inside the chest that miraculously was as long and big as his own body.

"Yer like it?" Lavi leaned to the side, smiling cockily.

Allen blew bubbles at naughty Lavi, "Yes, yes. But I can't stay for long in this water too. Contained sea water can only give me so much of air before it runs out,"

"ALLEN!" Lenalee came out of nowhere and hugged the merman, "Thank you for saving me, you cute cuddly thing!"

Allen flailed his hands as Lenalee's body nearly fall into the water, "Y-you're welcome, Lenalee. Please be careful, you're going to fall,"

Lenalee stood by at Lavi's side as the two watched Allen turn on his side and splash around to get a better feel of his new container. Allen stretched and realized that the chest can only hold only 3 quarters of his tail. The caudal fun flapped at the empty air, but Allen wasn't too worried about that. "Ah, Lenalee! I forgot; here-" Allen took out a diamond necklace out of nowhere, "-I believe this belongs to you,"

"My necklace!" Lenalee gasped in awe, and thanked the merman profusely.

By then, the Black Order crew was curious of Allen and came closer to take a sneak peek at the merman. Miranda tried to touch Allen's tempting tail, but Allen flinched away quickly as if the medic's hands were made out of molten lava.

"Sorry, but merfolk's tails are very sensitive to touch," Allen apologized humbly, trying to tuck in his large tail.

"So how come Lavi gets to touch it?" Lenalee pointed out, drinking from her mug with a knowing look.

"T-that's because Lavi is different. He's my best friend!" Allen stuttered, his face gone as red as a tropical flowerfish.

Allen wasn't the only one with a blushing face. Lavi looked away and he pulled his signature headband downwards as an effort to hide his growing red face, "T-Thanks, Allen. You're mine too," The two didn't make we contact with anyone for a while, the solid ground below them suddenly became their sole attention.

_Gods, can they get any cuter?!_ Lenalee screamed inside her head. The possessive statement wasn't ignored by the crew, and they laughed away the night at the shy duo.

That was how it went for many days.

Since Allen was an honorary crew member, Allen had no need to sneak around during the evenings. So, Allen came by at random hours during the late afternoon just to kill time. Sometimes, Allen came bearing large fish or hard-pressurized jewels as gifts. In his comfortable chest, he would spend his time watching the crew doing their usual pirate-ty business. He would learn about human culture and the land walkers, about how plants grow differently on solid soil and where land walkers would sell or buy materials for daily living. But most of the time, Allen was taught new words such as "Scavengerprat" or "syphilitic puppy killin' slimey bastitch" and the crew insisted that the innocent merman use those words on the Captain himself. Needless to say, the crew had a torturous time scraping barnacles from the bottom of the ship for a week without breakfast.

Ah, but after all that jazz and laughter, the crew instinctively knew that night time was_ 'Allen and Lavi'_ time. After dinner, the crew would either pack up and sleep in their hammock or spend the night drinking and dancing to Lenalee's tunes.

But their Captain wouldn't join them. Not while Allen was on board. The two would hole up in their normal dark corner just as they had did before all the secrecy and they would talk in whispers like they were afraid of getting caught. Lavi sat next to the chest with his arms holding his head, talking softly to an equally soft merman until his arms and mouth could bear no more. It was their time, their moment; the crew knew better than to disturb the duo. (Not unless they wanted to go without food for days and wake up tied upside down by their big toes as shark bait)

"-and that's how we find our way around the ocean," Lavi waved a dramatic hand over the night sky that was painted black and splattered with white stars and shadowy clouds.

Allen looked upwards following Lavi's hand, "doesn't the Moon scare you? Bookman says that you humans believe that if you stare at the Moon too long, your soul will get captured,"

Lavi chuckled at his best friend's naivety and ran his fingers in Allen's wet hair, "T'is true there. There're lots of stories about the evil moon and wicked nights... But I for one don't believe in all these stuff," Lavi smiled happily, "I think the moon is wonderful! And beautiful!"

Allen looked as if Lavi had just offered him the moon itself. The merman's smile was so bright; Lavi thought that the very stars should be jealous of it! The tail wagged gleefully while the chest water swirled at the fast movements.

Suddenly, the ship shook from side to side. Massive waves splashed onto the ship's open deck and cries of shock were heard. The ship rocked again, causing some barrels to fall and the cannons to groan in their places.

The wave knocked the wind out of Black Order so hard, it made Allen's chest to topple over and splurge the sea water all over the wet deck. Allen's body trembled at the sudden loss of water and before he knew what had happened to him, thin water whips came out from the sea and curled around his waist.

"LAVI!" Allen cried, trying to separate himself from the whips. But they were too strong! Within moments, Allen felt himself being lifted up into the air and departed into the gaping ocean below.

"**ALLEEEEEN!**" Lavi cursed, shouting for everyone to hear the cry of pain.

* * *

Oh look, another cliffhanger!

Haha I'm so evil, but hey, it what makes the story more interesting, neh? I mean, Lavi has to _work _hard for his lovely relationship with our cute Allen ^^ I read all your comments first thing in the morning, so your words really made my day a lot! Love them, treasure them like precious jewels they are! Here, I shall quote Tony Stark on this: "_You complete me!_" (psst, I'm a Superhusbands shipper hehe)

"syphilitic puppy killin' slimey bastitch" is given to me by the awesome serialsushi *throws confetti* I have no idea where you came up with this curse, but I can imagine adorable Allen cursing like that hahaha


	11. Chapter 11

The Black Order came out with their weapons armed just in time to fight against giant water snakes that came out of nowhere. What was even stranger was that the snakes seemed to be made out of water themselves, making Black Order's attacks futile. The water snakes hissed and struck out with a vengeance, injuring many of the crew with razor sharp teeth that could tear apart the ship with one slice.

"Allen!" Lavi raced across the ship, dodging the snakes' attacks and defending his ship from more destruction.

Suddenly, the ocean -literally- spat out Allen like it didn't like how Allen tasted and Allen shouted from high above while waving his hands, "LAVI!"

Seeing Allen flying up high made Lavi's heart get caught in his throat and he ran after the falling figure without taking his eye off of him. With a jump that could make a soldier proud, Lavi stretched out his hands and estimated- "I gotcha!"

Allen landed perfectly into Lavi's outstretched arms (if he was human). Allen's tail was heavier than his upper human body, making Lavi fumble to gain his center of gravity again. Lavi's hip hit the ship's wheel, sending the duo tumbling down. But Lavi made sure that he had the rough end of the fall, with Allen falling flat on Lavi's stomach and Lavi himself landing on his poor, abused bottom.

Without missing a beat, Allen waved his hand and his voice turned deeper and darker, **"ENOUGH!"**

The sea snakes lost their magic instantly and the water fell onto the open deck harmlessly. What was left of the water snakes were 5 still pillars of water. And sitting comfortably on those pillars were 5 merfolk who wore nothing but a shock look upon their darkened faces.

"That's enough, Tyki! They weren't hurting me!" Allen moved so that Lavi could sit up. Lavi saw that Allen was beyond angry, so he patted the smaller man's head and chuckled, "T'is alright, Allen sweet. I think Black Order is used to all this... Magic-ky thingy,"

Suddenly, Lavi found his face kissing a golden trident. A glaring face that belonged to a dark skinned merman with broader shoulders than Komui himself and battle scars decorated his upper human body.

"Who are you and why are you so intimate with our Prince?" He growled, the merman's dark powers leaking from his body.

"W-Wait! Prince?! Who?!"

Allen wasn't affected by the threat and sighed, "How did you find me, Tyki?"

Tyki turned his attention to Allen and his malicious aura disappeared like it never appeared, "We sensed your powers, Your Highness. We thought you were in trouble,"

"Well, there's no trouble here. Can you please leave my friends alone?" Allen replied smoothly.

Meanwhile, Lavi muttered, "Your Highness? Wait; Allen is your _Prince_?!"

Tyki growled lowly, "Humans are no-good land walkers. You must stay away from them!"

"They're fine, Tyki. They're actually good people, I'm telling you!"

"That's because you haven't seen them at their worst! They kill schools of innocent fish, pollute our sea with their black ink and destroy our beautiful coral reefs! Come on, My Prince, we must go!" Tyki grabbed Allen's hand forcefully.

This time, Lavi acted fast. With his small blade to slice, he pushed Tyki away and held Allen in his arms with a protective stance, "He's not going anywhere! Who in Davy Jone's Locker do you think you are?!"

The moment Lavi raised his weapon against the newcomer was when Black Order crew raised theirs. The 4 other merfolk took out their own weapons, but their advance was stopped by Tyki. The main merman stared imposingly at Lavi, and he crossed his arms against his chest as he pronounced, "We are the Royal Guard Noah. Sole protectors of the 2 Princes of Atlantica!"

_Woah, that escalated fast!_ Lavi wasn't only shock when he realized what the presence of these 'Royal Guard' implied. He looked at a sheepishly looking Allen, who only sadly spoke, "I'm no longer a prince..."

"Allen..." Lavi chided the closed merman in his arms.

But Allen either didn't hear him or chose to ignore his condensing tone. To the still waiting Tyki, he said with conviction, "These are my friends, Tyki. I trust them with my life, and nothing you say will ever change that,"

Tyki and Allen had such an intense staredown that it made Lavi wonder as to whether merpeople had a silent language all on their own. Finally, Tyki's tensed shoulders loosened its grip and the elder heaved a heavy sigh, "fine. Have it your way, little shounen,"

Recognising the childhood nickname, Allen also relaxed his stance and waved a hand around, introducing Black Order to his Royal Guards, "This is Tyki Mikk, my designated guardian since I was a child! There's Lulubell and Rhode, and Jasdero and Devit as well. They're really good guys!" Allen tried to appease the groaning Lavi.

"Allen, those 'good guys' just tried to wipe us out with their magical sea snakes. I don't think 'good' can describe them,"

"Says the people who kill for a living," Tyki grunted, earning a jab in the ribs from Allen.

"What Tyki means to say that they're sorry for all the trouble and they're going to take you to the nearest island to repair your ship, right?" Allen's request sounded very much like a command.

Tyki growled before dramatically bowing with a mocking tone, "As you wish, _My Lord,_" and was thoroughly slapped in the face by Allen's massive tail.

Meanwhile, Lavi was still stuck with something that just hit him earlier on, "Wait! Allen is your _Prince?_ As in _Prince _Allen of _Atlantica_?!"

* * *

I'm absolutely sorry for the late update! I was so absorbed into playing Pokemon in my handphone (it's been a while since I played, so sue me) that I've forgotten all about it hahaha Also, I believe that this chapter is shorter than normal, so I'll do my best with the next one. I do hope you're enjoying this story as much as I love Pokemon hehe Your sweet comments bring me back from Pokemon world and into Laven world, by the ways! Have an awesome day =D


	12. Chapter 12

Large strips of water burst from the ocean to wrap themselves around the Black Order ship, making the ship groan in pressure. The one called Lulubell called out in a high tune, and the crew found themselves surrounded by scaly sea serpents, each of them bolstering the size of a small island and spanning the width of a Royal Navy ship.

The awestruck crew looked in wonder as the sea serpents attached themselves to the water strips, and like horses to a cart, began pulling the ship forward at full speed.

"Woah..." Lavi whistled, holding his headband in place as the wind created by the serpents was strong. He spoke to his crew mates, "Ahoy there mateys! Pull up those sails! Looks like we're in for a long ride!"

Cahoots of laughter sounded across the open deck as his crew did their Captain's bidding. With their sails closed up and tied tightly, the serpents had an easier time pulling the ship along.

"Bet we're the first ship to ever get a ride from sea serpents!" Komui laughed from beside him, watching the designated 'horses' with interest, "and the first to make contact with the _Prince_ of Atlantica!"

"Lavi!" A voice spoke from afar. Allen was waving happily while sitting daintily on another sea serpent that wasn't responsible in pulling the ship. Tyki was also on top of a serpent's head, half his attention was on the Noahs and the other half was on Allen.

Lavi walked carefully (the sea serpents had no knowledge on slowing down on bumps) to the ship's edge and mock saluted the merman, "Black Order is in your debt, Your Highness,"

Immediately, Allen made the disgusted face similar to the time he found out that pirates drink every night, "Please don't ever call me that. My name is Allen Walker. Use it,"

Lavi chuckled, holding tight as the sea serpents went across yet another bump on the road, "doesn't change the fact that we owe you one. How do you do it?" He indicated on the giant reptiles that they were calmly sitting on like the animals were just mere pets.

Allen pointed at the mermaid who was currently leading the company of sea serpents in the front, "Lulubell can summon sea serpents to her beck and call,"

"But don't mess with her-" Tyki said cheekily, "-her bite's worse than her hiss,"

The merman quickly found himself trying in vain to hold his sea serpent in place as the animal hissed and started to wiggle around furiously. Allen rolled his pretty eyes at Lavi, "apparently, Tyki had forgotten that it was sea serpents themselves who raised Lulubell since she was a babe. They don't take kindly to people who offended their young, even if Lulubell is a mermaid!"

The journey continued like that; Allen explaining the wonders that were the Noahs and Lavi absorbing every single fact.

Jasdero and Devit were mermen twins, which were a rarity all on their own. Devit was the more dominant twin with charcoal-dark hair and a permanent cocky smirk on his face. His tail was also as black as evening itself but -according to Allen- as smooth as white sand itself. Lavi learnt that Jasdero was more submissive, but still had the ability to out-talk Tyki anytime of the day. Unlike his dark twin brother, Jasdero's own tail was of sunny yellow as was his fair hair.

"They're of separate entities altogether, but put those two together and you'll get an unstoppable force," Allen explained as he watched the twins giggling and going around the ship making mischief.

"Yeah. An unstoppable force of annoyance and idiocy," another voice spoke from the opposite side.

Rhode Kamelot was of noble blood herself, but her family had chosen to serve under the rule of the Walkers since the Moon was in the sky. Since she was Tyki's cousin, she had his wit but sharper tongue. She was a miniature dragonfish, Tyki said before.

Beside Allen, Tyki snorted, "Like you're any better. You always talked about how you miss your own daddy and worry about how Allen is doing,"

Rhode narrowed her eyes as she bitch-stared her cousin. Allen deemed it necessary to cut in before the poor ship became their battleground, "Erm.. Rhode. I think Lulubell wants your help,"

As fast as a silverfish, Rhode's demeanor changed and her eyes sparkled, "Sure, Allen!"

Lavi caught onto the whiplash of emotions and he turned to Tyki, who only sniggered as he whispered near Lavi, "Rhode's got a crush on Allen since they were young and she won't take no for an answer-" he glanced at Lavi with a questioning look, "-maybe _now_ she can get the hint,"

Before Lavi could say a word otherwise, Timothy shouted, "LAND HO!"

It was dawn when the serpents finally halted their advance. Black Order anchored near the seemingly deserted island, but after the Moving Island incident, everybody was slightly paranoid on 'deserted islands'.

"Come on, lads! We're going on a break!" Lavi led the way down to the small boats.

This time, the majority of the crew decided to stay on board. But Captain Lavi was not allowed to go anywhere unsupervised -since Lavi was Lavi in whole- so his tight-knit group of friends begrudgingly followed along.

The land crew checked their surroundings before making camp. Lavi had voiced his opinion that he wanted to stay one night on solid ground instead of a rocking ship, so they were stuck there till next morning or when they were sick of Lavi's antics. The latter would probably come earlier, knowing their Captain...

But Lavi had 'making trouble' placed far behind his mind. He walked along the empty shore, humming to himself while splashing water onto his tired legs. The sun was already high up in its throne and there were clouds lazily floating around the blue sky.

"Lavi~" Allen's melodic voice called to Lavi like a siren.

Allen was waving his hands, swimming steadily in the shallows and wearing nothing but a cheerful smile, "Come swim with me!"

Lavi shook his head and wondered what he had reduced to. He stripped his shirt and donned only his shorts, putting aside his headband as an afterthought. He still kept his small blade in his belt, just in case of emergencies. After taking out his boots, he dived down and swam towards Allen-

-who wasn't where he supposed to be?!

Lavi searched for the familiar silver head below and above surface, but found nothing. It was as if Allen wasn't there in the first place! It made Lavi confused, his defensive instincts immediately flaring into life. _Was it an illusion?_

Suddenly, something coiled around his two legs and pulled him downwards. Lavi gulped in water and nearly chocked, but that didn't deter his muscles from moving mechanically and he sliced whatever thing that caught him with his blade.

The sea serpent screeched loudly in the water and it released Lavi from its coiling grip. But Lavi was not out of danger just yet as two larger than normal sharks came swimming towards him with hungry eyes and sharp teeth.

One was smaller than the other, but both highly dangerous as they began circling Lavi with predator intents. Lavi stole the chance to come up and inhale more air, but the sharks wouldn't let him be and swiftly knocked Lavi over.

The sharks didn't slow their advance and tackled Lavi's body underwater. Lavi's arm was nearly bitten by the great white shark, but he was able to injure it when it came back for another round. The smaller mako shark was faster, and it used its speed to its advantage as it kept pushing and tackling Lavi like the human was a pin cushion.

Just as Lavi was about to attack the mako shark, something from below pushed Lavi upwards with tremendous strength. Lavi found himself being thrown into the air and fall into the water once again.

"What in Poseidon's na-" he cursed as he was yet again thrown into the air with enough force for his body to do a flip.

A cackling sound echoed with another and Lavi was now fighting with not one, but two killer whales! The big animals dived underwater and sensing their intent, Lavi sliced downwards, "Oh no, you don't!"

But Lavi's attacks didn't deter them whatsoever. The killer whales proceeded to flip, dunk and belly dive Lavi whenever they can, treating the poor human like a simple beach ball. Lavi was beginning to get dizzy before one of the playful whales tossed Lavi high up into the shy and opened its jaws like it was waiting for its lunch. Which meant...

"Oh nonononononono! NO! NO YOU DON'T!" Lavi shouted in anger as he fell from the sky.

As quick as a flash of lightning, a silver bolt knocked the killer whale out of the way and Lavi fell straight into the welcoming water. He came up to cough out water, and his eardrums burst at the outrage that was Allen Walker.

"-know how dangerous that was! -Inexcusable!"

Lavi patted a fuming Allen's back, chuckling tiredly, "'m fine, Allen. No harm done,"

A line of his attackers were bowing their animal-like head to Allen, and Lavi waved a calming hand as he was pulled away from the predators, "I'm alright. They're alright. Everyone's fine, dear Allen!"

Lavi was pulled to the shore, where his clothes were still safely dry. The waves pushed Allen onto shore, making him look like a beached animal.

"I'm sorry for my friends, Lavi. They like bullying other animals, or humans," Allen apologized, his tail flipping from side to side as he held himself up by the elbows.

Lavi shook his head and sat next to Allen while shaking his hair free of droplets, "Nah, it's fine. I mean, I actually thought I was about to get eaten! Luckily you came in time. Where are your Noahs anyways, shouldn't they hover around you like vultures?"

Allen stared at his best friend with an incredulous look. Before Allen could say anything, Tyki spoke nearby them with an offended tone, "Hey! We're not vultures, whatever they are! We're _purebred_, _noble_ merfolk!"

Allen pointed towards them, "They have been there with you all along; they're your attackers. We merfolk have the ability to shape shift to our animal form. Each of us has different animal forms, as you may have realized by now,"

"Woah... That's awesome!" Lavi cheered. He turned to Allen with a curious look, "I've never seen you shape shift before. What do you change into?"

"A pufferfish!" Came the jeer from Devit.

The Noahs chuckled nervously, making Lavi ponder about his innocent question. _Was it a secret?_

Tyki spoke softly, sneaking hesitating looks to his solemn prince, "Allen.. He can't transform because-"

One glare from Allen had the strong Noah hold his tongue. Allen's tail flipped casually at the water, but Lavi had spent too much time with Allen to know that the young merman's muscles were strained and tensed. Lavi was kept in the dark concerning his best friend, and he didn't like it one bit_. What is going on?_

* * *

Oh my, Lavi got himself into trouble again~ hehe I'm such a sadist. I was having trouble trying to decide who transforms into what kind of animal. So I hope I got them correctly. Merfolk transforms into their spirit animal, basically speaking XD

I did it again, didn't I? I didn't update on Wednesday It's official, pokemon has now taken over my life hahahaha I do hope you'll forgive me for the late update, I have no excuse but pokemon hahaha I really love reading your comments and opinions, it makes my whole day (you're even better than pokemon in terms of giving me happiness! Ssh!)


	13. Chapter 13

Recommended song while reading this chapter: **Lullaby For A Princess (Instrumental w/ Lyrics)** by StarOfNightFall or **Lullaby for a princess-Celestia &amp; Luna duet **by ladyphenyx in Youtube.

Seriously, go hear them! =D

* * *

If Black Order was to stay and entertain their immature Captain on a desolate beach, they might as well make a campfire during the night to ward off uninvited animals. Thankfully, there was an empty beach cove just far off to the north. The cove was alluring in all its natural beauty, the calm water splashing playfully at the white soft sand. As the sun began its daily slumber in the horizon, the Noahs took their leave to hunt for dinner. Black Order was more than capable to get their own food, but Allen had insisted that the nourishment was to be obtained by the grudging Noahs.

"Wow! What a gorgeous one!" Komui whistled, looking at the Noahs' hardworking catches.

They had brought a feast fit for a King or two! Stingrays the size of Lenalee laid down on their feet, their poisonous tails were no match against the ferocity that was the Noahs. Rhode was a bit small and inexperienced to hunt down prey ten times her size no matter how swift and royal she claimed she was, and so was reduced to collecting oysters and harmless crabs from the shallows where none of the larger Noahs can venture to. Yet, the human crew was thankful for Rhode's gifts because the crabs she had brought were fresh and the oysters had pretty pearls tucked away in their shells.

With the Noahs' reaps and the Black Order's ingenuity, a bonfire was made close to the shore. Far enough from the sea water for the fire to burn brightly but close enough for the Noahs and Allen to stay in their merfolk forms for a long period of time. Jasdero and Devit were impatient and never stayed in one place too long, so they had up and went to pick on an innocent sea turtle that just wanted to be left alone. The duo of large killer whales obviously had the time of their lives.

"They sure love picking on animals smaller than them," Lavi commented beside Allen. The merman was watching the twins along with the other Noahs, their tails in the shallow waters but their human halves rested on the dry sand. Jasdero flipped the poor turtle high up into the air before Devit bounced the animal on his nose. The turtle had decided to retreat itself into its hard, green shell. But it didn't deter the mischievous twin's playtime as Devit got his revenge and tail flipped the small prey.

Allen smiled wistfully as he watched the turtle that finally gave up being a play toy and mercilessly nipped Jasdero on the fin, "killer whales are notorious for playing with their food. They're considered the 'wolves' of the sea," he ended with a mocking grin.

Lavi laughed as he watched the twins now being chased by an enraged turtle half their size. He learnt that although the twins were troublesome and forceful, they were still young in terms of strength and will power. Since they were cubs much like Rhode was, they relied much on Lulubell or Tyki for guidance.

"Food's up!" Reever called out gladly.

Black Order took their fair share of food (there were _a lot_ to go around!) and invited the Noahs to come tuck-in with them. But the Noahs declined, preferred to stay in the water where they belonged.

"I don't understand why you humans _cook _your food.. How can you taste anything at all?" Lulubell wondered, recovering from a small shark attack from before as she was busy hunting dinner. She watched with undisguised disgust as the Noahs began to eat with their merfolk comrades.

"Here, Allen. For you," Lavi chucked a skewer speared with cooked sea cucumber –courtesy of Devit who had a knack on finding special seafood- in front of Allen's petite face. Allen thanked Lavi for his offer, but he was promptly snatched away by none other than Tyki with a sneer of delight,

"Awwww~ So _domestic_, little shounen~" He threw Allen to Rhode's direction. She cuddled the living daylights out of the unsuspecting merman and squealed, "Don't take the food, Allen! It's _human cooked_! You could get sea stomachorc or worse!"

Another pair of hands curled around the small Rhode that effectively pulled the youngster away from the suffocating Allen. Lulubell tucked Rhode to her side just like a chastising mother, "Please don't make a fuss, Rhode. We're Noahs, act like one." Lulubell took out a bone comb out of nowhere and started combing Rhode's wild black hair, a pout on the girl's dark-skinned face.

As Allen and Lavi reunited once again like they were magnetized with each other, Allen called out, "Why don't you sing to us, Rhode? Lulubell? I miss your songs,"

Lavi leaned back with a laugh, "Will we be caught in their spell, Allen? Are you sirens in disguise?"

"Too late for that," Tyki mumbled, flicking Devit in the face as the twins tried to sneakily push Tyki off his rock.

"Aren't you guys going to eat too?" Miranda asked from beside Krory.

Lulubell shook her head in noble politeness as she proudly said, "We've already eaten prior to coming here. Allen took the first kill, as usual,"

"Rules are stated that the royal family should have the first kill; so you can imagine how much it sucks when you have not 1, but 2 Royal Highnesses who couldn't agree on what to kill every day!" Tyki laughed, earning a glare from Allen.

Jasdero giggled along, "Yeah, yeah! Allen would always choose to go after seals while Neah wants to hunt sharks! Hee, they were always fighting!"

"But Big Brother Neah sometimes let his _precious little brother _win though. Honestly, it was tiring looking after the two of you!" Devit teasingly sang, reminiscing all those good times before the incident happened.

Sensing Devit's fallen mood, Allen perked up as he remembered, "speaking of looking after… Since all of you are here with me, who's guarding my brother?"

It was Rhode who answered as she felt left out, "Earl, Skinn and my dad Sheril. They won't leave His Highness's side!"

"Why, Allen," Tyki mused, "if you're so worried about His Highness, why don't you com-"

"You know very well why I can't go back, Tyki Mikk of the Great Whites," Allen's commanding voice made its appearance again, his once shining silver eyes turned onto Tyki's like silver blades instead. To use Tyki's full name and title was the first sign that Allen was _not _happy_. _The Noahs knew it best from first-hand experience.

There was silence in the air now and Lavi could feel the heaviness even though he was just a mere human. Tyki stared emotionlessly at the young merman prince while Allen glared right back as if Tyki's casual question was an honor insult. The Black Order crew stopped their eating, but knew better than to come between the merman and his guardian.

Then, Tyki gave up the quiet fight and sighed as he crossed his muscular arms, "King Neah _misses_ you,"

Allen's face looked horrified as if he had been physically slapped by Tyki. Lavi wanted to reach out and give him a comforting hug, but Allen pushed away his arms and dived into the water without a word.

"Tyki!" Rhode scolded Tyki, who did nothing but stare at the sea where Allen had just dived into.

"I'm going after him," Lavi excused himself, shaking away the sand from his pants and taking off his shirt.

"Then come and follow me," Tyki said with a deep voice, hushed so that none of the other worried Noahs can hear.

Having no choice, Lavi followed Tyki by land while the merman led the way in the water. They were silent as they approached another abandoned area covered with rocks and small trapped ponds. There was where Allen sat with his shoulders hunched over like he was carrying the weight of the world on them. Allen's eyes were misty as he quietly watched over the ocean with his tail slowly making circles in the water. Above them, the full moon shone brightly and perfectly while the dancing stars tried to outshine the other with their magnificence. The night sky was painted black and it blanketed the entire globe with darkness and hushed magic.

"I remember; King Neah was born directly when the sun was high and he was granted the power of the sun. Everyone was in awe of him and he immediately became everybody's favourite prince," Tyki whispered alongside Lavi, "but Allen.. The reason why he can't transform is because Allen is a stillborn,"

"What?" Lavi turned to Tyki who didn't take his eyes off the solemn prince, "Then how-"

"The Moon Goddess took pity on him and gave Allen life. The transformation turned Allen's hair and eyes to silvery white; the sign of the Moon Goddess's sacred touch. She gave Allen that scar on his face, to remind the merfolk that She was here for him,"

Tyki vividly remembered laying eyes on the second prince for the first time. Allen was as pale as any other merman, but what had attracted his attention was the hair! It was unlike anybody he had ever seen! He and Rhode and everybody else had black or brilliant colored hair. But never silver, for silver was the color of the Moon. The silver strands were like young pearls weaved into the head. And when Allen opened his eyes, Tyki felt like he couldn't breathe. It was as if Allen had stolen the Moon's powers and kept them for himself! The precious smile Allen offered to Tyki was what motivated Tyki to always protect the second prince and his childish innocence. But still….

"The merpeople didn't like Allen. To them, Allen was different from them; an _abomination_. Neah was still only a prince back then, so he was really busy with his royal degree and politics and other royally stuff to really pay attention to Allen. By the time he found out what was going on, it was too. _Damn_. Late!" Tyki gritted his teeth, angry at how helpless he was and regretful at Neah's overdue love.

"What happen?" Lavi asked with furrowed eyebrows.

Then, Tyki's back straightened and his eyes widened in mild surprise, "Ssh… Listen," he whispered with a bit of awe in his voice as if afraid to break the silence.

Then, it started. A song. Allen's melodious voice was carved as though his voice was created to sing bewitching songs. But, there was somebody else singing too alongside Allen. Somebody that sounded like it came from the very ocean.

_*l*_

_Fate has been cruel and order unkind_

_**How could I have sent you away?**_

_**The blame was my own, **__the punishment mine,_

_**The harmony's silent today**_

_*l*_

Lavi's own eyes widened as large as saucers as his blood began to tingle at the sudden deep voice that came as if from the very ocean itself! The second voice sounded very much like Allen's own, but held a deeper and more mature tone in it. Yet, the level of sorrow from both voices was of the same sync and heart. Was the other singer with a deeper voice… _King Neah?_

_*l*_

_But into the stillness, I'll bring you a song,_

_**With your voice, my company kept,**_

_**For your tired eyes and sweet lullabies, **_

_In exile I pay you my debt_

_*l*_

"Exile?!" Lavi hissed.

"Be quiet, human! Listen! It's rare to hear even _one _of them sing _anything_ ever since the episode!" Tyki hushed.

*_l*_

_**Once did a merman who shone like the sun,**_

_**Looked out on his kingdom and sighed,**_

_**He smiled and said, "Surely there is no merfolk**_

_**So wonderful and as well-beloved as I!"**_

_**So great his reign and so brilliant his glory,**_

_**That long was the shadow he cast,**_

_**Which fell dark upon the young brother he loved,**_

_**And grew only darker as days and nights passed.**_

_*l*_

"King Neah –praised be his name- was so busy with his future kingdom that he had forgotten all about Allen. Soon, Neah had taken leave from hunting with Allen as he was too busy with business and Allen's playtime was replaced by conference meetings with the land Lords. From sleeping beside Allen every night to more contracts and meetings that can span up till morning. Teaching Allen the ways of merfolk changed into doing deals with the outlanders. Miserable and forgotten of his brother's love, Allen was bullied, teased and tormented by the other merfolk… And Neah did _nothing_!" Tyki spatted with unconcealed anger.

_*l*_

_**Lullay Moon Prince, goodnight brother mine,**_

_**Rest now in Moonlight's embrace,**_

_**Bear up my lullaby, winds of the earth,**_

_**Through cloud and through sky and through space,**_

_**Carry the peace and the coolness of night,**_

_**And carry my sorrow in kind,**_

_**Allen, you're loved so much more than you know,**_

_**Forgive me for being so blind.**_

_*l*_

"Soon, Neah saw what his people had done to Allen. But he only stood by and watched as Allen's unhappiness grew. Since King Neah was in the limelight after all and he was drunk with attention. The foolish King did nothing to stop the destruction of one who needed him most. Allen, untaught and unprotected, had enough of living in Neah's shadow and always being casted aside by the kingdom's work. You see…. He was always curious about your culture even when he was a little cub…."

Sensing where the story is going, Lavi grabbed Tyki's arm, "No, _no… _Please, don't tell me that…. That…"

"He did.. Allen went up to your world and got attracted by one of your giant ships.. So eager he was until he was caught by one of your people! Allen managed to get away, but the damage was already done; humans have seen Allen and our secret of existence was revealed… Neah was devastated… At Allen himself," Tyki cringed at the memory.

He didn't remember much, but there was a bloody battle between both royals after that. He remembered Neah taking out his trident and arming it against the angered Allen, who cursed and spat at the heir to the throne. There was once a time when _Prince_ Neah would rather die than to point a weapon against Allen.. But that was before he became the King of Atlantica. _King_ Neah had to do what he had to do, and because of that, Allen was overcome with rage at the desertion of his own blood brother. The newly built Noahs tried to intervene, but Neah held them back and Allen pushed Tyki away with tears in his eyes. Allen's fury was monstrous when he had heard that _his own brother_ Neah was to punish him for his misdeed. With the Moon's powers, the outraged-driven Allen was unstoppable and could possibly destroy Atlantica. He was so swallowed by wrath and hurt beyond comprehension by Neah's betrayal that he attacked Neah full front.

Tyki still had nightmares till this day about Allen's agonizing scream when Neah burnt Allen's left arm with his Sun powers.

_*l*_

_Soon did his brother do what was demanded,_

_And gave to the Moonlight her due,_

_Breaking the harmony, he saved his merfolk,_

_And banished him as a wise ruler must do._

_But such is the weight of the crown that we wear, brother,_

_Duties we always uphold,_

_May you forgive me that foolishness mine,_

_And live on with no burden upon your soul._

_Lullay dear Neah, goodnight brother mine,_

_Rest now in starlight's embrace,_

_May this cool lullaby reach in dreams_

_And ease you your passage of days._

_*l*_

Here, Lavi felt his muscles tensed as Allen cried out in depression and guilt and the crying merman lifted his hands in yearning to the sea,

_*l*_

_May my apologies find you this night,_

_And may my sorrow in kind,_

_Neah, you loved me much more than I know,_

_May troubles be far from your mind._

_And forgive me for being so blind._

_**And forgive me for being so blind.**_

_*l*_

"Allen was still so very young when the sentence was brought down upon him. He was casted away from Atlantica with nothing but his tail tucked in shame," Tyki shook his head, hearing the heart-aching song coming to an end, "Neah was in despair for what he did, but he knew he couldn't go and comfort Allen like he so yearned for. Instead, he sent part of the Noahs to guard and guide Allen from afar in his place. It was a poor, cheap replacement for the real Neah, but that was all the King can do. Even now… His Majesty still cares for his brother that he himself banished,"

* * *

I have to admit; I was crying when I wrote this chapter. I'm really sorry if this chapter's not up to par with you! OMGosh, how can I write about Allen/Neah like that *cries in corner* If you're wondering about the lyrics, I took them from '_Lullaby for a princess-Celestia &amp; Luna duet' _from Youtube too. Now, I'm no My Little Pony fan, but the song has fudging _feels... _So much_ feels! _Prepare your heartstrings!

And yes, your lovely comments fuel my energy for days and I adore every one of them. Heck, I keep _ALL _of them in my inbox! Have an awesome day =D


	14. Chapter 14

"Come on, Lavi. Leave Allen alone," Tyki tried to pull Lavi away from the sobbing prince who had just poured his heart out into the ocean for his brother, but Lavi stayed behind with a determined look on his face. _No way am I gonna leave Allen just like that!_

Suddenly, a loud crash and shouts of curses were heard from afar. Not thinking at all, Lavi together with a shell-shock Tyki raced back to the campsite. What they saw was a one sided battle. But not against the frantic Noahs.

The Royal Navy was attacking both pirates and merfolk alike with their weapons and sharp swords. Their gold and black uniform was undeniably proper as they continued their attacks. Black Order tried to fight back with whatever they could get their hands on while the Noahs were hissing and dragging unlucky soldiers to their watery graves.

"Arr ya bootlickers! Taste me blade!" Lavi shouted, unsheathing his buckled sword and joining the fray. Tyki reunited with his brethren and took immediate command of the restless twins and ordered Lulubell to guard the young Rhode. Although the Black Order had magical creatures by their side, the Royal Navy had larger numbers and more experience dealing with slippery criminals.

"TYKI, look out!" Miranda shouted all too late.

Distracted by Jasdero who wanted to save Devit from being cornered, Tyki didn't see the net thrown towards him until it was too late. The metallic hooks that were tied at the corners dragged Tyki's body downwards until the merman ate sand in his face. Tyki struggled instinctually as he tried to break free from the restrains. But the more he tried to tear free, the tighter the net twisted around his body and thus paralyzing his movements.

"TYKI!" Both Devit and Jasdero wanted to save their elder brother, but they were so absorbed by their saving plan that they fell into one of the Royal Navy's traps that were hidden beneath the sand. The net caught the twins and swiftly put an end to their killing spree.

"You'll have to do better than that to take her away from me!" Lulubell hissed dangerously like her reptilian brothers, placing herself in front of an unconscious Rhode. Her black eyes narrowed into slits as her tail fins sharpened when the Royal Navy came closer with guns pointed straight at the mermaids.

"Don't ye know better than to hit an unarmed woman?!" Lenalee placed a precise kick to the stomach as she fought against the soldiers that stood against Lulubell.

Black Order was fighting with all their might as well and they were no pushovers! With ingenuity and dirty tricks, they fooled many soldiers and killed many that stood in their way to save their merfolk comrades.

However, the tide quickly turned against them when a booming sound of a gunshot rang through the battlefield.

"I suggest you lay down your weapons before I plant a bullet in his head," a commanding yet confident voice carried through the night air.

Lavi growled, clenching his sword but his heart beat with cold worry as he saw who the accursed man locked in his arms with the pistol pointed straight at his head, "General Malcolm.. Yer coward! Taking a poor man as yer hostage! Let 'im go, ya whimshidonkey!"

General Malcolm was infamous as a pirate hunter that had long served under Her Majesty, the Queen of England. He was merciless, cruel and commanding. But he completed every job and all missions given to him with precise judgement and cold compassion.

Lavi had a few 'fortunate' meetings with this General himself. He was lucky to have escaped with his life. But in exchange for his life, he got a permanent scar that forever took away his eyesight in his right eye. Yes, Lavi knew how ruthless Malcolm was and he didn't like it one bit that said ruthless man had Allen at pointblank!

"Why should I, Lavi? He's such a precious little _thing_!" Malcolm tilted Allen's chin with his other gloved hand. The poor merman was visibly shaking with fear now, his pretty silver eyes threatening to release a barrage of tears. But there was untrained fury underneath all those fear and Allen swore that Malcolm would rue the day he was born into this world! He bitterly announced that aloud, causing the unaffected General to laugh loudly.

Malcolm shouted to his still-living soldiers, "Tie them all up, boys! Make sure those creatures are away from the water!"

The soldiers went straight to work with complete discipline and silence. "Just like _dogs_, yar all are!" Kanda spatter at their feet when they came to tie him up with an injured Krory. The Black Order was tied up tightly while the struggling merfolk were dragged far away from both their home ground and the captured pirates.

"Let Allen go! He ain't worth anything to you!" Lavi tried to take his arms away from the grunting soldiers.

But Malcolm smiled viciously like a shark that had just smelt fresh blood, "what makes you think that I'll let him go? After all, Allen here is essential to my plans,"

"What're you gonna do to him, you trollophead?!" Lenalee cursed while she pulled against her restraints.

"Why, I'm going to hunt down all the merfolks, of course!" Malcolm explained to them like a parent to their child, "I knew these mythical creatures exist and I was researching about them for years! Do you know how long it took for me to find even one? I nearly gave up hope!"

Here, Malcolm gripped Allen's pale arm till it turned red, "That is, until I felt the ancient power of a merman himself! With Allen here, I can find the home of Atlantica and capture all the merpeople I want!"

Allen growled, angry that this foolish human had the tongue and guts to speak of his faithful home, "What do you want us for? We'll never give anything to you," Allen struggled with innate anger.

But Malcolm wasn't deterred and instead of threatening to point the gun at him, he fired one shot at Lavi's ribs within a blink of an eye.

Lavi felt sheer pain when he felt the bullet digging into his body without stopping. He remembered screaming in surprise and suffering, but there was also a louder scream in unison with his own.

"LAVI!" Allen shouted, trying to get to his collapsed best friend. The Noahs howled and doubled their efforts to escape, but the nets were too harsh for them and they were too far away from the ocean's water.

"Now, Allen. This can go two ways: leave with me peacefully, or-" here, he cocked his smoking gun to a groaning Lavi once again, "-he dies,"

Lavi's memory was vague after that; the blackness crept at the edges of his one eye. He saw Allen's mournful face as he was willingly carried away in Malcolm's arms. He tried to get up, move a muscle, but his body was against his wishes. He felt the steel bullet digging in as he continued to struggle until he could move no longer. Lavi felt his heart burst in sadness as he took his last breath before falling into darkness. _Allen..._

* * *

"-vi!" An echoing voice tugged Lavi lazily into reality. _Why can't they let me be... I want to sleep..._

"-Lavi!" The voice came again, this time more urgent.

Lavi grudgingly opened his heavy eye to blurry images. The sun was high up in the sky now and there were sea gulls flying around in the blue sky like they were vultures in disguise waiting for Lavi to drop dead. He felt like his body was turned into lead overnight and his muscles changed into dry cement. Just turning his head to the side so that he wouldn't suffocate into the sand below was pure effort.

"Lavi! Are you alright?" Komui cried out from... _Far away?_ Lavi narrowed his eye as he tried to clear his mind. _What happened? My head feels like a monkey cannon threw up on me!_

"Lavi! Wake the heck up!"

Groaning with the energy needed to get his body up, Lavi gave up moving when he managed to sit up. His whole body protested on sudden movements, and Lavi nearly gave in the urge to just sleep the week away. A sharp pang bit in his ribs, and Lavi cursed softly as he felt fresh blood seeping into his shirt and hand.

"Lavi! D-Don't move so much! You'll agitate the wound!" Miranda stuttered from behind Lenalee, her hands tied up together with the other female pirate.

Lavi blinked back the sleep sand from his eye and pressed against his painful bullet wound, "I think we need to revise on _timing_, Miranda,"

"Lavi!"

Lavi turned his -_oh my Poseidon, moving hurts!_\- head and looked upwards. There, tied to the branches of an old tree was hanging nets filled with merfolk. Their cracking tails hanging loosely against the net that tied them together and they looked as old as a Bookman themselves.

"Woah... What's up, guys?" Lavi chuckled at his own joke, "you look a little parched,"

Tyki growled weakly, trying to (futilely) untie the knots that tied his hands together, "You're ridiculous when you're near Gordon's Gate, human. But hey, I'm there too.. Get us down... The sunlight is going to kill us if we don't get into the water by sundown..."

"Lavi..." LuluBell's panting voice called out, contrast to her usual noble voice, "eat Allen's scale... You-You have it with you.. R-right?" She struggled with her words like a literal fish out of water.

"Allen's... _Scale?_" Lavi narrowed his eyebrows. With his free hand -the other hand still staunching the wound- he feebly took out the magical blue-silver scale that had caused all this mess. The scale sat daintily in his palm, the color changing according to sun's strong intensity and the coolness caressed his skin nicely. _So... I'm supposed to eat this?_

Hesitatingly, Lavi popped the scale into his mouth and chewed on it. The scale broke into little pieces like it was too delicate for predator's teeth even though the merfolk claimed that their scales protected them from animal bites and scratches. Lavi tasted sea water and refreshing coldness in his tongue. As soon as Lavi swallowed the broken scale, he felt his energy being rejuvenated and he was up on his two feet a moment later.

The fatal wound had closed up and left nothing but a tiny scar, leaving Lavi in awe at the magic that was the merfolk's scales. His mind was as sharp as his blade beside him and his willpower returned to its original self. He threw a smirk to his friends' direction and clapped his hands together, "Alright. Let's get started, mates!"

After releasing the Black Order crew and dumping the fragile merpeople into the ocean, Komui patted Lavi's back thoughtfully, "you go after him. We'll be right there after we're done with the ship's repairs,"

The Royal Navy had sabotaged the Black Order ship and had no doubt imprisoned his other crew mates in the ship. Now handicapped and running out of time, Lavi felt like the whole world had turned against him, "How, Komui? Even if we had Black Order in full order, we don't even know what course they were heading to!"

"I know where," a familiar gruff, baritone voice said from the shallows. It seemed that Tyki had recovered fully since his tail showed no cracks and his face was painted with that same cocky grin. His scaly tail twitched curiously, "My Noahs can stay and help your Black Order ship back to tip-top shape. And I can take you to where the fishbait is,"

Lavi only needed that offer to give up his ship command temporarily to his First Mate. Quickly, he stripped off his shirt and folds his pants. Tyki dived back down again and Lavi became the first human to witness the transformation from a merman to his animal form.

Tyki's animal form was huger in close contact, what with a Great White Shark's teeth as large and wide as Lavi's own arm. The body was covered with scars and long-term scratches; proof that Tyki had travelled through thick and thin. Tyki nudged on Lavi's outstretched hand and the pirate held onto the shark's dorsal fin.

They swam from one corner of the earth to another, never stopping for a break or detour for fear of Allen's safety. Not to mention that the Great Whites clan prided themselves for their swift speed and timeless stamina. No, both Lavi and Tyki weren't taking any chances when it came to someone precious to them. _Especially_ when Allen was concerned.

Finally, they reached the Royal Navy ship. It was twice the size of any normal Royal Navy ship and the amount of firepower on that ship alone is triple of anything Black Order can concoct anytime of the day. The day had bowed down to nighttime, putting the dark blanket over the sleeping sun and raising the moon onto its starry throne. Tyki swam quietly to the ship's side before shape-shifting back into his merman form.

"Sorry, pirate. But I think you realized by now that I'm not suited for land-walking. I'm going back to my Noahs. We'll meet up soon," Tyki whispered to a climbing Lavi.

Lavi had his small blade between his teeth and so couldn't answer Tyki back verbally. When he dropped onto the open deck as quiet as a mouse, Tyki said seriously, "Hey.. Take care of my little shounen,"

Lavi saluted respectfully to the merman and received a solemn nod in return. As sneaky as a true pirate, Lavi strode across the deck and into one of the many corridors that were decorated with red curtains and portraits of unknown men. A passing by soldier on the graveyard shift gave Lavi the opportunity to change clothes. Lavi dragged the unconscious man into a closet and came out wearing the uniform of a soldier serving under the Royal Navy. Decked with his own sword and white gloves, Lavi walked his way confidently to prevent suspicion.

_If memory serves me correctly, Malcolm's quarters should be around... Here!_

Lavi turned the doorknob and openly gawped at the scene; the General's quarter was humongous in size, littered with papers and gold pieces everywhere from top to bottom. But smacked from one corner of the large room to another corner was a giant aquarium.

"Allen!" Lavi gasped in relief.

The chained up merman looked up and bubbles came out from his mouth. Allen's own silver eyes widen in surprise at Lavi's entrance and shouted, "LAVI! WATCH OUT!"

Somebody tackled him from behind and before Lavi could reciprocate the favor, he was duly tied with jute rope and slapped twice for good measure.

"Well well. Look what crawled into the ship; a stinking _rat_," Malcolm stepped out from the shadows with a hand that rested on his sword's handle, "did you really think I'd leave little Allen here unguarded?"

Malcolm took out his soldier gloves and promptly slapped Lavi in the face, making a resounding sound that echoed the whole room. But Malcolm wasn't done yet as he continued slapping and giving a few punches to the stomach, stealing Lavi's breath and his lungs ached for oxygen.

The resilient pirate held his tongue throughout the whole ordeal and he spat out blood, "That all you got, yer bloody wanker?!"

That earned a precise punch in the face and somebody behind was twisting his arm in all the wrong directions. His strength began to abandon him as Lavi took another punch into his recovered ribs. Lavi knew that he was going to black out and was determined to at least kick Malcolm in the nuts before it happened. Yet the punches kept raining down on the tied pirate until he could bear the torture no longer.

"STOP! Stop! P-Please!" A serene voice filled with sorrow cried out.

Lavi panted, looking up and saw that Allen was actually crying. Honest to goodness crying, completed with the tears, red face and sniffling and all. But what was mystifying was that Allen's tears magically changed into precious pearls the size of actual teardrops.

"P-Please," the crying Allen begged through his tears, "D-Don't hurt him. I'll do anything, so _please_ don't hurt him anymore,"

Lavi felt his heart drop dead cold at Allen's distressed face.

Malcolm laughed maniacally at the scene. He pulled Lavi's hair up so that the pirate was forced to watch Allen continue crying; "Now you see, Lavi. This, this is why I'm going to capture every merperson. Imagine: their scales can heal anything and any disease. We don't need to worry about our health anymore! Their tears-" Allen's tears turned pearls dropped continuously to the aquarium floor, spreading the small fortune everywhere, "-are living treasures! Free for everyone to spend and lavish on!"

He threw Lavi down again like the pirate was dirty scum and exited the room with his foot soldiers, the triumphant laughter followed in his wake.

"L-Lavi..." Allen placed his webbed hands onto the glass, his eyes portrayed frantic worry.

Lavi crawled his way towards Allen as best as he could, his tied hands loosened its hold but not enough for Lavi to break free of its restrains. When Lavi finally touched the aquarium glass, Allen's eyes immediately released a new batch of magical tears.

"I-I'm sorry, Lavi. I'm so so sorry! I wish I can help you. I want to help you so much. It _hurts_, Lavi. It hurts me to watch you get hurt," Allen's forehead lied on the glass and the merman looked at Lavi with regret and sadness.

Lavi's forehead came to rest upon the cold glass. The only thing that separated the two from embrace was the doggone glass and Lavi hated every second of its existence. He chuckled roughly, "Sssh.. It's alright, my sweet Allen. I'm here now, everything's gonna be alright,"

"Lavi..." Allen calmed himself down, gazing at his best friend with longing that made Lavi just want to screw it all and take Allen into his arms and never let go! "Why.. Why do you suffer so much for me.. I'm just a banished prince,"

Lavi knocked on the glass amusingly at Allen's webbed hands, "You're not that. To me, you're Allen Walker, my best friend. My treasure of all treasures,"

* * *

I think you've realized by now that Malcolm is (and most of the time!) a pure jack-ass in my stories. I feel so sad writing Lavi seriously injured and making Allen helpless :( I do hope you're enjoying this story so far, your comments are perfectly awesome in my inbox! Have a nice day! =D


	15. Chapter 15

"Why can't you use your merman powers, Allen?" Lavi wondered, groaning in pain as he tried to stretch his injured body, "you could break those chains easily and save the day,"

Allen sighed as he pulled the chains that held his arms in vain, "I can't. This water isn't from the ocean and I've been separated from my home for too long. Sorry, Lavi, but I can't do anything,"

Then, Lavi remembered what Allen had said earlier when he had gifted the chest to him. _I can't stay on board too long. The chest can only give me so much air to breathe._ He hurried back to Allen's side as fast as he could with protective worry, "Allen! How much air do you have left?!"

As if Lavi's question revealed Allen's secret, the merman breathed in deeply and exhaled to make small bubbles. The gills around Allen's neck fluttered open and close while they worked double time as the merman furrowed his eyebrows, "I don't know.. But if I don't return to the ocean soon-"

A sudden thud from the open door stopped Allen from talking. General Malcolm with a Cheshire cat grin came striding in like a champion and ordered to the waiting soldiers outside, "Come on, men! Take that creature to the aquarium at the deck!"

"NO!" Lavi tried to struggle anew, but a nicely-placed punch to the face made Lavi tumble down weakly. His sight blurred, but there was no denying the frantic image of Allen trying to out-swim the soldiers that were armed with swords.

But no matter how swift and slippery Allen could swim, he was still chained up like a mere animal on display. The foot soldiers took the chains' ends and pulled roughly on it, forcing Allen to follow the soldiers' needs. Allen's tears threatened to burst again, but held back as the merman prince glared daggers at the commanding officer.

After Allen was mercilessly dragged to the open deck, Malcolm stayed to tighten the knots around Lavi's restraints and he gruffly said with disgust as if communicating with Lavi was below his level, "get up, scum. You can't miss this,"

"When I get my sword, I'll personally send you to Davy Jone's Locker myself, yer mangy bootlicker!" Lavi growled dangerously, but the prodding sword at his back made him walk forward.

On the wide, open deck were busy sailors and disciplined soldiers. The quiet wind gave life to the many large sails and the day has now transformed into night. The beautiful stars were out playing innocently as they were watched over by the giant and gracious full moon; even the clouds decided to leave their sky terrain, making the night sky all the more seductive and ominous at the same time. At the bow of the open deck stood a human-sized aquarium with nothing inside but Allen himself.

Poor Allen had no space to move side to side and he was trapped within those glass walls with chains holding his arms down. But strangely, Allen looked like he didn't need to move at all. He was ramrod still in his miniature aquarium, his head bowed down as if he was simply sleeping up straight.

"Watch, pirate... And learn," Malcolm whispered from beside him, his sword kissing Lavi's defenseless neck. But the General didn't need to tell Lavi that, for the pirate Captain was already entranced at Allen's muteness.

Suddenly, the aquarium started to vibrate. Softly at first. Then consistently. Until the whole container was looking as if it was alive and shivering from the cold weather. Then Lavi realized; the night was cold?! As a pirate, Lavi knew that nights in seas brought the temperature down as icy as the high mountains themselves. But this type of coldness that he felt... It felt heavy yet light, frigid yet soft. It was unlike any other cold feelings he had experienced before. It made a resolute pirate like Lavi weary.

"We're entering Forbidden Waves," The explanation was all that Lavi needed.

Forbidden Waves. The only part of the entire ocean that even the roughest and toughest pirate quake in fear and superstition. Many ships entered the land, but none came out alive. Lavi heard stories about water banshees stealing sailors straight from their sleeping cabins, or simple giant rocks that smashed apart the ships. There was even a story that a grand ship with a crew of 500 ventured into the foggy land for exploration. It became the first ship to come out perfectly intact. But all 500 men vanished in thin air as if the ship didn't have anyone on board in the first place. There was a reason why this mysterious land was duly dubbed Forbidden Waves land.

Lavi held his tongue against the suicidal General. The man looked like he had a fool-proof plan, so Lavi's instincts warned him to lay low and watch from the shadows before striking. A cackling sound broke the funeral-like silence, stealing everyone's attention.

It came from Allen himself. The merman's eyes were misty white with his small mouth opened to make another crackling sound equivalent to a whale pup calling its mother. Allen whined innocently as if he heard something nobody could hear, pulling on the chains and veering to the right.

"Hard to starboard, men!" Malcolm shouted, igniting the activities back into the sailors that were entrapped by Allen's strange magic.

The ship turned sharply to the right, narrowly missing the rocks that stood waiting for their next victim.

Then, Allen moved quickly to the left and swam forward as if he wasn't trapped by the glass aquarium.

"Port side, bearing 35 north!"

The ship groaned loudly as it changed its path according to her General's needs. Again, the ship missed the dirt island that could have broken the hull if it weren't for the General's quick direction change.

Just like that, Lavi knew what Malcolm was doing; he was using Allen like a human compass! Allen was honing into his home's direction like it was built into every merfolk and Malcolm was using this piece of knowledge to malicious use! With Allen's guidance, the ship was able to avoid any danger and had the means to travel through the fog with ease.

That was until Allen stopped moving purposely and started struggling anew like he just snapped out of a spell. The fog magically lifted and the ship was in clear waters once more. But the waters weren't like any other normal ocean water, Lavi observed. For one, ocean waters weren't still and silent. There were always waves and splashes to create sound and movement. Two, this water looked crystal clear and clean with all its blueness. It was as if the original ocean Lavi had seen before this was of the tainted kind and now he was looking at untouched ocean water. Lavi felt absolutely uneasy about all this...

"Alright, men! Ready the bomb!"

Malcolm's booming order snapped Lavi out of his musings.

"What do you think you're doing, Malcolm?!" Lavi hissed, trying to flail his trapped hands around.

"Do you know how fishermen catch such a large amount of fish in such a small amount of time?" Malcolm grinned proudly as he watched his invention being tied up and properly checked.

Lavi's bottled-green eye widened as his heart gripped in fear, "No.. You can't do this! The merfolk will die!"

"Not this time; I want them all alive," Malcolm gestured to the giant bomb-like thing that hung above the ship with ease as if that weapon of mass destruction was his pride and joy, "This baby will release a supersonic sound so intense, it'll paralyzed the creatures until we can cast our nets and capture them all. They'll be defenseless during that time, so we'll have the advantage!"

Lavi gritted his teeth in frustration for both his helplessness and the evil man before him, "they're not creatures or animals. They're _merfolk_, the same as you or me!"

"LAVI!" Allen's shout caused the bicker to cease.

Just as soon as Allen's warning came, the ship rocked side to side wildly. Waves roared as they came into life, throwing all the sailors and soldiers into a frenzy. Water strips came out of nowhere, snatching unaware soldiers into the ocean.

"Lavi! The merwarriors are here! Get away!" Allen warned, beating his fists against the glass.

Sharp icicles flew out of the ocean and pierced the soldiers who tried shooting into the water. But none of the merfolks appeared out of their home ground. The ship rocked again, tilting almost dangerously to its port side. Everything moved along with the ship, causing some sailors to fall into the water.

Lavi took this opportunity to throw an elbow punch into Malcolm's stomach and released his hands from the loosened jute rope. Taking a sword from the tilted ground and smiling with cockiness, he came face-to-face with 5 soldiers with grim looks. Lavi twirled his stolen sword experimentally and professionally, causing doubt to appear on his opponents' faces, "Well now. Shall we get to it then, sharkbaits?"

While Lavi was busy fighting another group of soldiers that had the guts to go against a dirty pirate Captain, Malcolm headed his way to the tied bomb. His ship rocked like a mighty earthquake as though the ocean was angry at the ship's very presence. He opened the wirebox connected to the bomb and started rewiring some things.

"Lavi!" Allen called out from his own glass trap, "stop Malcolm! He's going to blow the bomb!"

"Oh no, he ain't!" Lavi cursed, fighting double hard to get to the General. Sensing the pirate Captain's ferocity, the soldiers defended around their General and started cutting Lavi's advance.

"You're too late, pirate trash!" Malcolm stood up with heavy breathes but a victorious smile. The General took out his blade up high, "now witness; the dawn of a new age!"

A swift cut of the ropes dropped the bomb straight into the gaping ocean.

Seconds after the bomb fell, Lavi heard nothing. The battle continued with the merwarriors controlling their water whips and soldiers shooting. Then, a violent but muffled booming sound echoed through the whole battlefield. The soldiers stepped back in astonishment and awaited the coming attacks from the mythical creatures below water.

The ocean remained silent and dead.

Chorus of whoops, joyous and triumphant sounded across the entire ship. Lavi was caught in a trap with 3 captain-level swordsmen, cornered with his bloodied sword at the ready. Ahead, he saw the happy sailors throwing giant nets into the ocean and singing songs of praises to the Gods for their victory.

"Give it up, sea scum," Malcolm pointed his cocked gun to Lavi's head, "We've won the battle,"

"We've got something, Sir!" One of the sailors called out. True to his word, the large net was holding some things in their trap. Something shiny and they glittered as bright as stars. They pulled the net higher, their hearts soaring with excitement at their golden catches.

_**BOOM**_

The net broke free and their catches fell back into the ocean with a nothing but a splash.

_**BOOM**_

The ship rocked as cannon fire came out of nowhere. Some landed effectively on their target while some fell short by the sides to make tremendous splashes.

"Thar she blows!"

Lavi has never felt as relieved as he had before. The Black Order ship was heading towards them in full speed, complete with her cannons armed and ready for another round of attack. Her woven sails fluttered with the wind and the legendary Jolly Rogers flag flew sturdily above the crow's nest. But the pirate ship didn't come alone.

Water whips attacked and curled around sailors and soldiers alike. Hissing angered water snakes came slithering around the Royal Navy ship, their reptilian eyes glowed bright red like blood. The Noahs had arrived with the cavalry in tow. First Mate Komui shouted at the top of his lungs when another row of cannons fired at the Royal Navy,

"Ya got some mates that belong to us, yer scallywaggers!" He unsheathed his sword and the Black Order pirates followed suit with loud vigor and impatience, "And we're here to take 'em back!"

* * *

Tada! I do hope you enjoy this chapter! Allen still reminds me of Toothless (they're both supersupersupersupersupersupersuper cute) I love writing about pirates nowadays, they're awesome to write about. Again, your comments bring joy to my life *throws confetti* Have an awesome day~


	16. Chapter 16

Suggested songs for this chapter: Before linebreak- Pirates of the Caribbean-He's a Pirate (Extended) by Sunderbraze.

After linebreak- Pirate Love Song-Black Heart by Brunuhville.

* * *

"ATTACK!"

The Royal Navy nocked their long-ranged guns and readied their cannons to counterattack. Waves began to move both ships to and fro, regardless to which side the ship was fighting for. The hissing snakes from the sea depths snatched sailors from the decks with their sharp teeth and poisonous fangs. Cannon fires were exchanged and the mighty **BOOMS **that they made echoed through the battlefield.

"Lavi!" Shouted a helpless Allen. He was dodging the soldiers' swords inside his small aquarium, swiping at their naked hands with his swift and rough tail. But as feisty Allen was, he was breathing too heavily and his eyes turned gunshot red. Although Allen was in water, it was as if Allen was suffocating in there!

"Ho, human!" A noble voice sounded from Lavi's side. There on a magically-made water hurricane was Tyki Mikk with his golden trident at the ready. He pointed towards the suffering Prince, "Get Allen back into the sea before he dies!"

Suddenly, the weather turned from sleepy calm into raging wrath. Loud drums of thunder and sniping lightning decorated the darkened sky. Rain fell like cats and dogs, pelting the battlefield with water. Soon, everyone available on both ships was drenched as the sky tried to drown the ships with their weather. Both Komui and Malcolm shouted at the top of their lungs, trying to compete with the booming sounds of cannons and thunder. The sails fluttered furiously as the angered winds tried its best to tear the woven materials apart; the ships creaked and groaned at the damage they had taken.

"Fire away!" Komui pointed at the opposing ship, allowing the row of cannons to spit out giant metal balls and leaving nothing but smoke in their wake. A sudden thump from the starboard caused Black Order to tumble left, almost breaking the hull from below. Kanda tried to take control of the wooden wheel, but he couldn't even move an inch! The ship kept moving left as if it had a mind of its own, not wanting to go where the wheel took her.

"Great!" Lavi cursed as he held onto the railing of the ship and stabbed a soldier in the stomach at the same time. On the Royal Navy ship, they were having the exact same problem. Only theirs were hard to the right and staying there till God-knows-when. The grand Royal Navy kept moving right until the very deck tilted along with it, showing Lavi what was really going on. He wiped the sweat and rain off and threw away his headband, "A freaking _maelstrom!" _

"Batten down the hatches, me hearties!" The giant vortex of doom threatened to swallow both ships whole as it kept twirling until there was nothing but deep, dark blackness. With both ships caught in the whirlpool, they gave up navigating and concentrated on destroying their opponents to smithereens.

"FIRE!" Malcolm ordered over the booming thunder and striking lightning. The cannons followed the command faithfully, some of the cannons finding their target and getting direct hits on the pirate ship. Black Order retaliated, but they had something else in mind.

"I don't remember signing up for this… Break the starboard anchor!" Komui shouted.

The heavy right anchors of Black Order were quickly dropped and their chains rattled across the deck. Kanda wiped his brow as he retied the jute rope next to him with shock in his face, "What're you doing, Komui?!"

The First Mate grinned manically as he took hold of the spinning wheel and controlled it with pure strength, forcing the wild ship to bend to his will. He threw his head up to the rainy sky and laughed heartily as the anchors found solid support from the ground below, "I HAVE NO IDEA, KANDA!" The Black Order ship groaned heavily as it fought against the strong current, and Komui roared with all his insanity as he steered the sturdy ship to his need, "HOLD ON, LADS!"

Back in the Royal Navy ship, Lavi was beginning to rethink his life's decisions. He narrowly dodged another swipe and delivered a strike of his own, thus ending yet another soldier's life. His eyes widened at what his beloved ship was doing, "Holy… Poseidon.. No, you _didn't_, KOMUI!" Without looking back, he ran away from the right side of the ship.

"Oh. My. _God_. What in the world-"Malcolm realized too late what the pirate ship had in store. With the weighty anchors holding the ship in place, Komui had turned the wheel backwards and now Black Order's front was facing the Royal Navy's own front! The anchors helped the ship to stay in place; the wood creaked under protest yet didn't yield to the mercy of the maelstrom's currents. Slowly but surely, the Royal Navy ship was coming side-by-side with the pirate ship. Komui turned the wheel quickly, crashing her heavy bow against the Royal Navy's stern.

Now, both ships were immobilized.

"FIRE THEM CANNONS, BOYS!" Komui laughed.

"FIRE AT WILL!" Malcolm charged angrily.

With such close distance, it was impossible for both ships to miss their targets. Cannon fires echoed the air, but it wasn't the dominating sound. The Black Order crew swung and jumped onto the Royal Navy's open deck and an all-out fight against pirates and soldiers was ignited.

Pirates. With their bloodied weapons and trickery, they fooled many and killed hundreds. They were as bloodthirsty as they were greedy for loot. They fought crazily as per their occupation, shouting in glee as they were reunited with their Captain once more.

Soldiers. Served loyally under the Queen and armed with guns and discipline, they fought valiantly against the blood-curling pirates under the strategies of General Malcolm.

"Lavi!" Rhode called from above the head of a sea serpent, "King Neah is _angry._ You have to send Allen back into the ocean now! He's the only one who can calm Neah down!"

"What do yer think I'm doing?!" Lavi shouted back, swinging his sword and shooting a charging soldier in the head.

"Lavi!" Malcolm came charging with bloody eyes and a frowning face, "This is _your_ entire fault!"

The enraged General attacked Lavi with violent intent and Lavi had to defend himself against the onslaught of the attacks. Allen was running out of time and Lavi was still so very far away from the bow! Cocking his gun once more, he fired all his bullets to the aquarium's direction and prayed to whatever deities that he didn't miss.

Out of the 4 bullets he shot, only 1 found contact with the glass. It was disappointing, but Allen was grateful. With all his power, Allen crashed into the cracked glass using his body, making the cracks bigger and wider. The ship tumbled along with the troublesome waves and shook harshly, making Allen's aquarium fall and break into tiny pieces. The merman managed to break free of his chains, but was helpless on solid wood.

Lavi swiped upwards to force Malcolm take a few steps back. His crewmates were beside him and they took over Lavi's place so that their Captain can save his best friend. With swiftness that could rival a sparrow, Lavi ran to Allen's side and carried the merman to the side carefully, "you alright, Allen?" he spoke soothingly.

Allen was gasping for air like a literal fish out of water, but his face showed nothing but relief and compassion, "I-I'm fine, Lavi," Allen's eyes widened in shock when he saw the danger that crept behind Lavi. Without thinking, the merman pushed Lavi down to safety, "WATCH OUT, LAVI!"

Malcolm's sword stabbed through Allen's middle so wickedly smooth.

"**ALLEN!**" Lavi roared with rage along with the raving wind. Picking up his sword, Lavi rained attacks after attacks. His heart filled with dark grief, Lavi turned into the one thing he was known and feared for: a pirate Captain.

Blow after blow, Lavi held nothing back. Succumbing to his inner beast, Lavi forced Malcolm back until the poor General was at the edge of the plank that hung loosely at the edge. Malcolm tried to fight his way back, but Lavi had his ruthless pirate crew behind him for support. Lavi smiled with a cold-blooded grin that struck _fear _into the General's heart.

"Time to walk the plank, yer sharkbait! The fish need feeding!" Lavi jeered.

"You won't kill me, Lavi!" Malcolm smiled nervously, "You don't have the _heart_ to do it!"

Within a blink of an eye, Lavi's sword ran through Malcolm's chest and out with great ease, "that's right; I don't have a heart. After all, I am a _pirate_," and the Captain kicked the General cruelly off the plank. Malcolm was dead before he reached the bottom.

As if the maelstrom was contented with the sacrifice, the gigantic whirlpool eased into stillness once more and the weather turned into silent night once more. The stars flickered lowly as if it was afraid that the bad clouds would come and disturb their playtime once again. All was calm as the ships rocked tamely on the water's surface.

* * *

Lavi was beside himself with distraught. Allen was not where he had left him! "Allen?! _ALLEN?_ Where are you?" Lavi's cracked voice was far different from the malevolent tone he had used towards Malcolm.

This time, he sounded broken-hearted.

"**Lavi**,"

A steely yet smooth baritone voice that sounded so very much like Allen tinkled through the quiet air. All the pirates gasped in wonder and awe at the magical scene before them. Merfolk of all kinds and of different colors started to appear at the edges of the ship, their tails swinging with curiosity. The water serpents rose and carried many other mermaids and mermans, surrounding the ship with their magical aura. But what was awe striking was the large water throne that flowed at the side of the wrecked ship; the ends were of ice and snow. The Noahs stood at the front of the throne with mixture of serene smiles and sad gloom. Lavi came closer with his steps wavering all the more visibly.

"**I am King Neah Walker. It's an honor to finally meet you, Captain Lavi of Black Order,**" the commanding yet soft-spoken voice spoke again. Neah bowed his head lowly as he spoke with deep regret and sadness, "_**What the Moon Goddess giventh, She shalt takenth back,**_"

But Lavi wasn't paying attention to the divine king at all. No. All his attention was paid duly to the wounded merman in his arms. Lavi's one eye began to water as he whispered in great relief, "Allen…." He stretched out his hand with quaking shiver.

Cradled in Neah's arms protectively, Allen opened his eyes as if Lavi's voice had the power to summon him awake. He stretched his own pale arm longingly, and Neah's own orange eyes softened at the gesture. With all the grace of a king, Neah came down from his icy throne and carried Allen towards Lavi, but he didn't let go of his gravely injured brother.

Lavi didn't care. He grasped Allen's hand tightly and allowed his tears to fall without concern. His voice shivering in guilt and unhappiness, "I'm so sorry, Allen. Oh my sweet, I failed you,"

Allen's shivering hand closed around Lavi's own hand, not caring that the pirate's hands were covered in blood. The merman smiled gently and reached for Lavi's quaking cheeks, "It's alright, Lavi… I-"Allen coughed out blood, but he kept his pretty smile that Lavi would _kill _to look at every single day of his life.

Lavi's heart clenched and tightened as his spirit cried out in pain and woe. He swallowed emptiness and kissed Allen's cold forehead reverently, "I love you, my treasure of treasures," here, he kissed Allen's tear-stricken cheeks, "my love," and finally Allen's mouth, "my _heart_,"

Allen's own silvery eyes fluttered close as he kissed the cold-hearted pirate back with all the tenderness and endearment that he had. He pushed all those sweet memories that he had, all those bitter moments when they had an argument. His heart crying out loud, trying to push _everything _Allen had into that one lovely kiss.

They separated, but didn't go too far as if afraid that the other would disappear. They didn't care that they were breathing in each other's space or that they were surrounded with people. All that mattered was the moment that belonged them and them alone; just like those times when they hid in their dark corner back in Black Order, peacefully talking about everything and nothing.

Oh, how they wished and wished and _wished_ with all their hearts to turn back time and be together again!

With Lavi's own lips tracing his own, Allen smiled his most precious smile and in his last breath, whispered with broken passion, "I love you, Lavi,". Allen closed his eyes peacefully, as if he were merely sleeping.

Above them, the full moon looked on. Taking no attention to the howl of wretchedness that pierced the sky that came from a crying pirate.

* * *

Want a tissue? Here, take two... You know what, take the whole box! I can honestly say I cried (again) while writing this chapter along with the suggested music. This is probably the saddest story I've written :'( But hey, it's only in my opinion. I'd love to hear yours. Is this story good? Awful? Come tell me your thoughts ^^ Now, please excuse me while I dry my wet face. Have a wonderful day, lovely!


	17. Chapter 17

**Epilogue**

"Anchors away, mates!"

The grand Black Order ship threw her anchors down gladly to port at their homeland once more. After countless of years, the crew finally laid their eyes on the familiar greenery and mountain land that only their origins could offer. The same fishing village was still there; modest and true. The villagers came to the port to welcome their adventurers back with open arms and carefully planned feasts. The blood-thirsty crew wanted nothing more than to race down from the ship and kiss the ground they last walked on when they were just dreaming children. Chorus of celebration and loud cheering filled the open air.

Black Order has returned _home_.

After the fantasy fight and all the drama of kicking Royal Navy butt, there were talks of 'settling down' and 'hanging the sword up' around the crew. Nobody could blame them; they had seen and experienced too much for just mere pirates. But the Black Order crew was hesitant in making their life's decision.

It wasn't as if they didn't have enough loot to retire. On the contrary, they had collected so much of gold and fortune, that it could probably keep a hundred families out of debts and starvation for generations.

It wasn't because of their hazardous occupation either. True, they were murderous pirates that plundered and killing many innocent/guilty parties along those long years. It was also undeniable that they sunk good ships and stolen their treasures. But when the Queen herself -God bless England- heard the reports on what had occurred in Forbidden Waves land, she gave the entire Black Order crew a national pardon and threw in her personal interest rate as well. She even offered the crew the jobs as privateers; pirates working under the government so that their usual plundering and killing were all authorized under Her Majesty. Nevertheless, the crew wanted nothing more than to feel their home ground and lay their guns down for the last time. No, their dangerous job wasn't why they were having doubts as to whether they should quit pirating.

It was because of their Captain.

Captain Lavi, who was feared but respected by all, was a true pirate in all sense. He was brutal, cruel and merciless in the face of his enemies. He led his wayward Black Order crew to victory (and gold), never wavering in his determination and always lending a hand to his troubled crew mates. He was the perfect pirate captain anyone could ask for.

But he was also human.

Like the rest of them, Lavi wanted a shoulder to lean on. A family he could proudly call his own. The feeling of longing was all any good man ever wanted and Lavi wished for a home to call his own. He found his home, alright; in the form of a wonderful merman. Then, the fight happened and the feeling was thoroughly destroyed.

Captain Lavi was never the same after that.

Oh yes, mates, he still smiled, cracked a few jokes and played some tricks. But the crew who understood their resilient leader by heart knew the worst had happened; their Captain wasn't their Captain anymore. Simply put, he was a broken man who tasted the bitter taste of death-claimed loved ones.

First Mate Komui would usually take charge more often than not; he knew what heart-brokenness felt like and he wished with all his heart that he could've protected Lavi from that awful feeling. Lenalee would make efforts on walking and talking to a down Lavi every night, but every time Lavi's eye would wander at that same shadowy spot he hid with Allen and excused himself from Lenalee with barely restrained tears in his glittering green eye. Both Krory and Miranda treated Lavi as if he was their own child, but even the warm bond of parent-child couldn't replace the dark hole inside Lavi's heart. Kanda threatened Lavi to snap out of his stupidness, but eventually gave up and reluctantly joined Lavi into drinking their sorrows away in the wine cellar. Even Bookman tried his hand into cheering the man up (Bookman's way of 'cheering someone up' included marooning said person on a deserted island for a few days with nothing but a barrel of alcohol and a loaf of bread). Needless to say, Lavi ate no bread but drank the entire barrel in one day while cursing colorfully to the moon, stars and sun for the love he had lost. Black Order had tried everything, but nothing was successful.

"Komui.. Is Lavi gonna be okay?" Lenalee asked her brother as the elder man wiped the sweat off the ship's wheel. They had finished weighing anchor by the old port and now were overseeing some of the pirate crew packing up and leaving the ship permanently.

First Mate only shook his head, watching solemnly as his lonely Captain walked along the empty beach with his hands tucked into his black pockets, "A man with his spirit shattered is neva' the same man he was before. Yer can kick him to the slumps, insult him until his ears drop and stab him like a pincushion. But let me tell you one thing, Lenalee dear," he whispered to his younger sister like he was about to reveal a massive secret, "the only way ta _kill_ a man is by breaking his heart,"

Lavi walked till his feet hurt. By then the day had fallen to give way to night. The Gods pulled their giant black blanket over the sky, covering the bright clouds with darkness and painted stars. It was a full moon again; haunting yet seductive at the same time. The waves splashed calmly over the white sands, giving coolness over Lavi's bare feet.

He knew it would do him no good to cling onto the past. By right, he should forget about Allen. He should bury his dead feelings. He should keep walking forward and don't look back. He should... He _should_...

"RARGH! **ALLEN**!" He fell to his knees and punched the wet sand below.

Nobody was around to see the once proud pirate break down in tears and agony. Nobody to comfort Lavi and tell him that everything was 'going to be alright'. Nobody to hug him with such gentle coldness and sweet smiles. Nobody...

_"Lavi!"_

Lavi's head jerked up. He rubbed his eye furiously as he looked at the ocean.

_"Lavi!"_

No way... The voice was still the same; innocent and sweet. Lovely and compassionate. There was no way, magical means or not, that anybody could replicate such melodious sounds and angelic tones. He called out to Lavi like a siren. And Lavi fell into the spell willingly.

"I'm coming, Allen," Lavi whispered with tenderness. He stripped off his clothes as fast as he could and dived down into the welcoming ocean under the watching full moon.

* * *

"LAVI! LAVI!" Kanda shouted.

The Black Order was beside themselves. The morning sun was already high up in the sky and their captain was nowhere to be found! They searched high and low, from top to bottom. But it was if Lavi had up and disappeared without a trace. The crew had a village-wide hunt for their depressed leader; each member had thought the worst had happened.

After a while, the crew met back on the ship and their failure to find the captain was evident in their faces. Alas, Komui only waved a lazy hand away and leaned against the ship's railings.

"You know where Lavi is?! Where is he? Is he alright?!"

"Yeah, I know," Komui smiled softly, watching the familiar green-black headband floating in the ocean beside the ship, "He's with Allen now,"

**The End**

* * *

After much consideration and thought, I decided that this ending fit best to the story. Therefore, it's all up to you to decide: Was Lavi so heartbroken that the ocean took pity on him and made an illusion of Allen to put the pirate out of his misery?

Or was it truly Allen in the flesh and he called out for Lavi to join him in the ocean?

It's your imagination, have fun!

I want to give my heartfelt thanks to you guys who read/supported my story since the beginning of time. Honestly, Lavi wouldn't have met Allen if it weren't for you, so give yourself a pat in the back! I would love to hear from you one last time though, so keep me in mind and I'll do the same to you! Kid Darkness, over and out.

Oh yeah, have a wonderful day! (until my next story!) Whoops, spoiler alert! MUAHAHAHAHAHA SUFFER IN SUSPENSE!


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